Update on Grandpa Groneman:
Nothing terribly major really. But in the 5 days we were gone south, it seems like he aged another 5 years. Seriously. He is having such a hard time even forming a simple sentence a lot of the time. He isn't that bad with idle chatter-stuff he has said out of habit for a lifetime...but on anything that he has to formulate a thought into a sentence he struggles, a lot. It takes him awhile. Also, his balance is getting worse. He pretty consistently has his walker going faster than he is and would face plant into the sidewalk without help. Yesterday on a walk that I could have done in 1 minute easily, it took us 25 because he had to stop 5 times to rest (and I had to get Kim to come get him and wait with him cause I had a meeting to go to so it probably took 35 min by the time he got downstairs. He was trembling, and he about passed out (which is when we did a U turn for home). This morning, Kim went down stairs about 10:30 to see how he was, and he was standing in the kitchen looking very confused. Kim asked if he needed some help and he said that he didn't know what the problem was but he couldn't finish dressing himself (couldn't get his pants done up or tuck in his shirt) and he couldn't think how to get himself some cold cereal (he likes to have it occasionally instead of the usual egg breakfast with everything). So Kim helped him get that and started his coffee maker, as he couldn't figure out how to do that either.
He was also having a hard time getting enough air-breathing in rapid, shallow breaths.
Nothing traumatic, but very frustrating for him to lose so many simple abilities in rapid sequence. Perhaps he had more mini-strokes at Saundra's while we were gone, we don't know, but he has really gone downhill. He is very weak it seems.
I talked to a widow in the ward at Stake Conf today and told her some of this. Her husband died of cancer. She suggested that like her husband, that the cancer may have spread to his brain like it did with her husband, that lead to similar difficulties. And then I thought that perhaps it is in his lungs too??? The breathing thing is a new problem...maybe it will go away, we will see. So I guess my question would be to you nurse/Dr people out there with his being on hospice, do you think with what is going on it would be advisable to get a brain scan done? Kim says, "what is the point if we are not going to fight it?" and I understand that. But I think that if we knew what is happening and what would likely happen to him, and how soon, because of what they find, it would help us to be prepared for the eventualities. Maybe hospice wouldn't even pay...but I am curious if you would recommend it.

Comments

Cambrienelson said…
Answer:
Definate no. There is no point of a brain scan. It could be cancer in his brain or something else. It doesn't matter. There is no treatment. Hospice won't pay for it anyway.

I hope you have called your hospice nurse and told her all of these changes in grandpa.

Oh, and I would definately recommend stopping the walks now.
Gramps said…
Let me put in my 2 cents worth. Grandpa has his good days and his bad days. Sometimes he'll bound up the stairs and sometimes he can barely get his feet to move. He happens to be in what seems to be a down cycle. We've only had him home from Saundra's less than a week. I definitely think it's worth telling the nurse about, but I don't think it's worth setting up a brain scan for.

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