Surprises

This week has been the week of surprises. Some really great, and some really bad.

Today's bad surprise was that my grandma in Iowa was taken in for an angioplasty procedure. Completely unexpected. Luckily the family, including my mom over the phone, was smart enough to recognize she wasn't her normal self and took her to a doctor. Turns out she probably had a big heart attack three days ago and then another one this morning. Three of the aortic "valves" were completely blocked.

She's in her hospital room resting and the doc said things went well and that they got it all. However it's going to be a long road to recovery and there is definitely long term heart damage. Mom is driving there early tomorrow morning; an 8-hour trip. She's packing her bags for an indefinite stay, since she is the only one of the five children that does not work and can stay with Grandma until at least the harvest season is done. Then my uncle (a farmer who lives down the road from my grandmother) can take over responsibilities.

It's hard to know what to say here. A part of me is considering driving to Iowa on Saturday for a short weekend trip, but I feel like I'd probably be in the way. On the other hand, I did the drive when my grandfather was admitted with leukemia just a couple weeks shy of two years ago. It was nice just being with family and being back home in Iowa/Illinois, even if most of it was at a hospital.

I'm not sure what I'll do.