Dead batteries

Grandma went into hospice a few days ago. Advanced Parkinson's, and very frail. Considered flying home to say goodbye, but my schedule is tight right now, and she hasn't really been lucid enough recently to be aware if I was there on most days.

Today I got a phone call... to tell me my *aunt* had suddenly died this morning.

Aunt Susie was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 2. My grandparents were told she'd never see her 30th birthday. She was (IIRC) 56. We joked in the family that she was the Energizer Bunny, and was going to outlive us all.

She went blind at 22, her kidneys failed a decade ago, widespread neuropathy had taken most of her mobility and sensation, and she was in the hospital more than many doctors I know. She said that as long as she kept going, she was going to volunteer for every experimental procedure and drug she could, so that the data would help others... she wanted to be a nurse before she lost her sight. Kidney transplant, several GI tract surgeries, broken bones she couldn't feel (she'd notice when she heard the grinding noise), more medication than most pharmacies keep on hand... it was a rough life, but she just kept going.

Susie lived with my grandparents after she went blind. Grandpa died five years ago, and grandma's Parkinson's got bad enough this year that she and Susie moved into adult care together. We figured that after grandma went, Susie wouldn't last too much longer, but we didn't expect this, really.

They went in this morning to check her blood sugar, found it at 60, and couldn't get a BP reading. She died soon after reaching the hospital, without recovering consciousness.

I guess her batteries finally ran out.




Now just waiting for the phone to ring again...

Dead batteries

Grandma went into hospice a few days ago. Advanced Parkinson's, and very frail. Considered flying home to say goodbye, but my schedule is tight right now, and she hasn't really been lucid enough recently to be aware if I was there on most days.

Today I got a phone call... to tell me my *aunt* had suddenly died this morning.

Aunt Susie was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 2. My grandparents were told she'd never see her 30th birthday. She was (IIRC) 56. We joked in the family that she was the Energizer Bunny, and was going to outlive us all.

She went blind at 22, her kidneys failed a decade ago, widespread neuropathy had taken most of her mobility and sensation, and she was in the hospital more than many doctors I know. She said that as long as she kept going, she was going to volunteer for every experimental procedure and drug she could, so that the data would help others... she wanted to be a nurse before she lost her sight. Kidney transplant, several GI tract surgeries, broken bones she couldn't feel (she'd notice when she heard the grinding noise), more medication than most pharmacies keep on hand... it was a rough life, but she just kept going.

Susie lived with my grandparents after she went blind. Grandpa died five years ago, and grandma's Parkinson's got bad enough this year that she and Susie moved into adult care together. We figured that after grandma went, Susie wouldn't last too much longer, but we didn't expect this, really.

They went in this morning to check her blood sugar, found it at 60, and couldn't get a BP reading. She died soon after reaching the hospital, without recovering consciousness.

I guess her batteries finally ran out.




Now just waiting for the phone to ring again...