First of all, for those of you who have asked about my grandmother I apologize for not updating the info sooner. Everything has been so crazy. So here is the whole story. My grandmother is 85. She has Congestive Heart Failure and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), and Aortic Stenosis. To the best of my understanding this means her aortic valve in her heart which should be two centimeters in width is only less than half a centimeter. Because of this the valve only opens a tiny bit letting a little stream of blood out at a time. The blood backs up in the heart so part of the heart beats really fast to try to get the blood through and oxygen to her body. This causes her heart to beat abnormally in several ways. Long story short, its bad. The doctors have said in addition to all of this her heart is hardening. Then there is the COPD. The doctors initially said the whole problem was because of bronchitis but it was only the tiniest of issues she was having. The doctors pulled us aside several times and said her lungs are weakening. They told us twice to get prepared. We almost lost her several times. Needless to say the family has been a mess. I have been a mess. My grandmother and I have always been extremely close. I really don't know what I will do without her. We have been told that at most she has 1 year with the heart problems alone, not taking into consideration the COPD. They released her from the hospital today. She has to use a wheelchair because she can not even stand up with her own strength. The doctors released her because the bronchitis is gone and the heart is as stable as they are going to be able to get it. It scares me that she isn't being monitored by a nurse. Some of the things that happened in the hospital we didn't even know about until nurses came running into the room. I guess it is good for her to be able to spend as much time out of the hospital as possible. This is one of the hardest things I have ever gone through. I can only compare it to when dad had cancer. I keep thinking about all the things I will miss about her.
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hostileintent:
Happy Birthday dear. 
kaleidoscopic:
big hugs and hopes that you having a wonderful birthday 
