It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. And that’s exactly what happened. As you read in “Life Changes“, Gram loved playing Bingo and would do so every other Monday. On December 5, 2016, I dropped gram off and then received one of the worst phone calls three hours later. She had fallen on her way out of the bingo hall. It was a rainy, chilly night, and they weren’t sure if she slipped or if her legs just gave out. I raced over to the church parking lot as fast as I could, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was sweet gram on the asphalt, covered with blankets, crying, and apologizing. I hoped and prayed she did not have a broken hip, but it did not look good.

After what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance arrived. Gram was so upset and sorry. I kept telling her it wasn’t her fault. We finally got to the hospital and yep, you know it, it was a broken hip. The doctors were great and wasted no time. Surgery was the next day. I didn’t feel comfortable letting Gram stay in the hospital by herself. She would have no idea about insurance or her medications and would have a hard time hearing the nurses and doctors. Plus, she would have no idea what was going on. Thankfully, I have amazing friends and cousins, and they brought me an overnight bag.

My mom arrived from Virginia and all three of us spent a couple of days at the hospital in a wonderful suite. Then, they sent Gram to rehab, and mom returned home to Virginia. After a week in rehab, she wasn’t really getting better and seemed to be losing hope. I decided I didn’t want her to deteriorate as my grandpa did, so I asked if I could take her home.

At first, they were hesitant, but the physical therapist came out to our house for a trial run, and Gram started zipping around the house with her walker. We decided it definitely would be better for her to be at home, but one of the stipulations was that I had to be with her 24/7. 24/7 is very overwhelming, especially since she was fairly independent up until that point. But I felt I needed to make the sacrifice.

Back at Home. It’s really hard to take care of someone who has dementia and a broken hip. There were certain movements she wasn’t supposed to do because the hip could pop out. I did my best to keep her on track.  She couldn’t do a whole lot on her own so she became more and more dependent on me. I was making her breakfast, helping her get dressed, and helping her shower.  I did sneak out to the gym in the morning, which was my alone time, my social time and my let my frustrations out time. Because I needed that hour a day, I woke up early so I would be back before she decided to get out of bed. I did what I had to do to make it happen, to keep myself sane and our relationship healthy.

Lonely Christmas. By Christmas🎄, she was walking around the house like a rock star with her walker, but I wasn’t sure if an eight-hour car ride to Virginia would be good for her. We decided not to travel and had a nice, quiet Polish Wigilia by ourselves. It was a very emotional Christmas because we weren’t able to spend it with our family, and it was our first Christmas without Gramps.  It’s amazing the little things you come to appreciate as time goes by and how much you learn to appreciate your family and the time spent with them.

Although she was weak at times, I couldn’t believe how well she was recovering from the broken hip. She was walking around the house with her walker. She would take little rides with me when it was nice out. I talked her into going out to dinner a few times and a month later she was back at the bingo hall! Not too shabby for a 92-year-old.

But by February 2017, Gram and I were feeling pretty down.  We were around each other constantly.  She was getting stronger and able to do more, but she wasn’t fixing herself breakfast and didn’t seem motivated to do much. My life was changing as she became more and more dependent on me.

A Bright Idea. One morning, Gram mentioned going to her condo in Fort Myers, Florida. Needless to say, it sounded like a fabulous idea!! It was cold and snowy in Pennsylvania, and we were both ready for some sunshine!  We also were in need of some family time. We packed our bags, loaded up the cat in the car, and headed south. Not knowing that soon again I would be experiencing more life changes.