The Bitterest Pill

[tracker7]

Mamaw's visit to a cardiologist gave us some new information, none of it really good.  She has an 8.5cm aneurysm on her aorta, right at the heart valve.  Enough blood is flowing back into her heart through the damaged valve that an accurate blood pressure reading is impossible.  She is at the very very outside edge of candidacy for surgery;  because of her age, she's given a fifty-fifty shot at surviving the surgery.  Follow that up with 3-5 months of recuperation, and even with the repair, she may get 5 years, or 5 weeks.  Without the surgery, the best estimate is a year, at the outside.

She is meeting today with her children to talk about this.  I don't expect that she'll opt for the surgery.

I tell myself she's had a good life.  85 years is a terrific run, and she's had good health almost the whole time.  She's seen three generations of descendants.  She's loved and respected by all of us.  And I know she misses Papaw, and is looking forward to being reunited with him.

Doesn't mean I'm quite ready to let her go, though.

Comments

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

She will not undergo surgery. I didn't expect that she would.

She has been assured by her doctors that when the aneurysm fails, she will feel no pain, and may not even know what happens. I'm comforted in this.