Grandma and Me, Part I

So, Grandma had been blowing up my phone for a few days. And when she does that, I know she means business.

First of all, she needed to go to the doctor, and I took her last Tuesday when I was off.  That was an adventure in itself because the only things that Grandma knows is that a) she has to go to the doctor and b) she knows the building where the doctor is located. 

So it becomes a whole puzzle of sorts. My first act is to always find adequate parking near the elevator. She doesn't walk well, and we can't walk too far. And what's worse, she wants to walk fast! Sigh. So I have to get her to slow down and take her time.

Then we have to find the doctor's name on the wall. Sometimes she recognizes the name, sometimes she doesn't. This doctor had a muslim name. That was a big clue. But not that big of a clue when you're at a hospital with 19 floors. I finally looked through her wallet and found a card and she recognized the name of the doctor on one of the cards. So I made her sit down while I went on a hunt for his office and after 15 minutes, I was able to track down where she was supposed to go.

She needed to see a podiatrist to see about her feet and have her nails clipped. There was a 2 hour wait for some reason. I was annoyed, but I had my nerdy science magazines and kindle so whatever. When she was called in, she wanted me to go with her. Let me tell you, it was a trip sitting in that small exam room, with clipped nails flying everywhere! I didn't think it would ever be over.

Then she wanted to go out to eat at "The place we'd gone before". Of course she didn't know the name. It took me 5 minutes to figure that out. But she meant the place we went some 7 years ago, I believe (Gladys Knight Chicken and Waffles).

Let's just say I was bone tired after all that. And it wasn't because we were running around hard. It was a rough mental exercise. I have to remind myself to go slow and treat her like I would treat a young child. I remember praying before picking her up that day that I remember to employ patience. And that I did, every time I felt myself threatening to become antsy.

But I must admit, I was just mentally exhausted afterwards. So my sister and I talked about it this weekend. And we determined that my exasperation is in not really knowing what is going on. So I need to be more proactive and try to make sure I am doing my best to help her. It felt pretty bad being in the exam room with her and not being able to answer the nurses questions (Who is your primary care doctor? What medications do you take?) I knew none of these answers and Grandma had to fight to remember. So I need to figure out what to do about that. A good suggestion by the podiatrist was to sit down and write all of her medical information and contacts on a piece of paper so she can carry it in her purse and have it to give it when needed.

I think I will do that.

Like I said... Grandma had been blowing up my phone. Why?

Because she has a new great-grandchild... her fifth.

And she wanted to go see her.

... to be continued.