I visited my 90 something grandmother in hospital last night. She’s got a dab of osteoporosis which has left her in a fair amount of pain. She’s improved significantly in the last week or two, in part because of pain management, and because she’s adjusted to having to move with a Zimmer frame, plus hope; there’s the chance she’ll go home. The thing with my grandmother is getting her to spend any money on herself. She won’t do it. So her paying for a nurse or refitting her house is out of the question. She wouldn’t let others pay for it either. She’s saving money for inheritances. My attitude, and that of the family, is that she’s got, at best, another fifteen years alive, so she should blow the lot.
Her memory and mental agility are out of step with her 90 something body. She still reads three or four novels a week, thankfully her eyes are still good. Despite the Fentanyl patch and muscle relaxants she’s read two Tom Clancy novels in the last two days. Maybe the Fentanyl patches help with those books. She loudly pronounced that she believes in euthanasia, while looking wistfully towards the 70 something crying out down the hall (terminal cancer sufferer). She asked that if she ever got that bad whether the doctors could put her out of her misery. I said they aren’t legally allowed to do that, so she said that if she got that bad she’d steal morphine or other strong painkiller and OD. I think she’d be more than capable of doing that, even if it meant squirrelling medicine while in acute pain.
Say what you like about about my granny, she’s practical, and doesn’t like a fuss.
