Granny's 74th Birthday

Today, my maternal grandmother turned 74 years old. I have tons of things I have been planning to write about, but I think that I should just take this day and thank God that my granny has made it to 74. There was a time a few years ago when we thought we were going to lose her. I remember it like it was just yesterday.

I had just finished my freshman year of college. I was home for the summer. My mom was at work, so I had to drop my little brother off at Granny's house on my way to work. We got to her house and I got out to say hey to her. When I went in she was sitting in her chair and she wanted to show me something. What she wanted to show me was her legs! They were so bruised. I asked what had happened and she told me the story. Apparently, she had been outside on her porch watering her plants and must have tripped over the hose. She had fallen off of the porch into the yard. I can't imagine how scary this must have been to her. Anyway, Granny was on blood thinners at the time, so any little bruise could have been cause to worry, but a big, huge bruise like this... this needed attention. So, I informed her that I would probably tell my mom what had happened. She said okay. That is when I knew that I should worry. Granny has never been one to want people to worry over her unless there was a good cause. So, I left her house and as soon as I had decent service I called my mom to let her know what had happened. She left work immediately to come check on her.

When I got off of work that afternoon I went home, but Mom wasn't there. I called her and they were still at the ER. They stayed at that dang ER so long that I thought they were never coming home. When they finally did come home they were so mad. Apparently, the ER had done nothing for her. Nothing. About 8 o'clock that night they had to take her back to the ER because her legs were still swelling and she was in an extreme amount of pain. I'm so glad that they took her back. They ended up having to send her to another hospital. She had developed something called "Compartment Syndrome" in which she had bled so much into her legs that the muscle separates from the bone. I mean.. she had lost a LOT of blood (2/3 of her blood volume). There was no reason that she should be up and alert.

From there I'm not really sure what happened. I know that she was in really bad condition. They had to do surgery to save her legs, they told her she would never walk again much less live alone again.. I know that it got super bad a few times. We really thought that we were going to lose her. I remember that her O2 levels in her blood got so low that she was hallucinating a few times. I remember being so scared that if she survived she would suffer brain damage from how low her oxygen was.

But one of the things I remember the most was when she was recovering. She told us that she knew she was going to be okay because Jesus was with her. She said He had sat with her and held her hand when she was afraid. If I remember correctly she said that she couldn't see anything but His feet, but she knew it was Him.

Looking back now, it's hard to believe that she (and we) went through all of that. It was difficult on our family, and the recovery was long and hard for her. They told her that she would never walk again. She proved them wrong. They told her she would never walk again without assistance. She proved them wrong. They said she would never live on her own again. She proved them wrong. I'm really not sure what helped her recovery the most: the fact that she wanted all of those things, or the fact that the doctors kept telling her that she couldn't. I guess that could be considered a lesson in perseverance and determination. I would have been happy to have had her just healthy and home, but I am glad that she has met her goals. She is truly a role model in both her spiritual walk, AND in her life in general. I could go on about how she has always been happy with what she had, even if it isn't the nicest or the best. I could talk about how she was very dedicated to her church and willing to be a servant for God when she still attended there. But I think this is a long enough post.. not that I could write enough good things about my Granny!!

Love you, Gran!! Happy 74th birthday!!!!!