The Day Of My Grandfather

One night in January, I couldn't sleep and it was 4am and then out of the blue I got a call from my sister.. At first all I had was questions, “What do you mean his organs are shutting down?” And then she said it-- grandpa’s dying. She called telling me that our grandpa, who was battling cancer on and off for eight years,

When my dad came home that evening he sat me down and asked me if I knew what cancer was. I had an idea so I just nodded my head, he went on to tried to explain to me how bad the cancer was that my mom had been diagnosed with. Seeing my dad so afraid scared me. The fear I felt then led me to realize that I needed to try and hide it because it would only hurt my dad more to see his children so upset. I did my best to help, I tucked my little sisters into bed while my mom was away at the hospital, read them stories and did the best I could at preparing snacks to comfort them. After my mom arrived home and she recovered from the surgery she started chemotherapy. The miserable treatment that attacks the cancer also makes her very ill. Every other week she was sick. Before every bad week I wanted to cry, but that wouldn’t help anyone. Lane and Kenna already were crying, if I cried it could only hurt my parents

This leads to where I started back at my house when my dad told my sister and I that my grandfather was diagnosed with Leukemia. That was one of the hardest things for me to hear considering that my grandfather was a big part of my life. My dad said that he was going to be in hospice care without chemotherapy because he said: “That he had lived his life.” Two weeks after being put into hospice care my grandfather passed away with all of his family by his side.

It was May 2006, my grandfather lay in his hospice bed, tired and weary, dying of pancreatic cancer. There was nothing I, or any one in my family could do for him. My grandfather was one of the biggest influences I had on my life, and here I was siting helpless as he was dying. However, there was one woman who was able to aid my grandfather in his midnight hour, nurse Judy. Nurse Judy would stay up all night and comfort my grandfather, and she acted quickly when he was in vital need of something. Nurse Judy was not only there for my grandfather but for the rest of my family as well. She would comfort my mother and grandmother, and explain various medical terminology to my brothers and I. It was during this tremendously difficult time in my life that I made the decision to become a nurse. I saw all of the good I can do for the patients, as well as their families just by being there for them during difficult times.

In the autumn of 2013 my beloved grandmother suffered from many medical complications. After discovering esophageal cancer, surgery to remove it caused a tear in her esophagus, which led to numerous health hazards. As a result, the cancer spread throughout my grandmother’s bloodstream and it was impossible to maintain her health. By October of the same year, she fought to maintain her optimistic personality that I admired so dearly as a child. There was nothing more the doctor’s could do and while she wasn’t able to speak clearly, she understood the circumstances completely. As my mother asked her if she was ready to rest she pointed up to the heavens with her eyes closed. As we said our goodbyes she was given morphine until she was no longer with us. To force my grandmother to suffer and endlessly wait for healing would have been selfish of us. It is hard for those of us who are healthy to consider death as a logical option in crucial situations. While it is a difficult concept to grasp, in certain circumstances it is the better

After time, my family had gotten use to seeing him with his pale skin, drooped face, and the inability to be active. My family and I were use to caregiving at this time in his life. Such as, helping him to the bathroom, changing the bandages on the cancer sites, and eventually feeding him. Looking back on it now, I didn’t realize how much suffering he went through until I think about all the things he could not do on his own. Eventually, we had to hire a professional caregiver. Good Samaritan Hospice was such a big help to my family and treated my grandpa with the proper care. Hospice care was with him from April to October of 2016. The last two weeks of my grandpa’s life was the hardest thing I have had to go through so far. In his last days I miss sharing “ I love you’s” with him. This was such a special thing for me to hear from him because he was always the type of person to hide his emotions. He had always believed that love was shown through actions rather than words. Hearing it for the first times from him felt overwhelming because through my childhood I never heard him express affection with his

From a young age, when not in school I was in and out of hospitals watching while my mother battled cancer three times. She finally lost her battle with cancer just after her 60’Th birthday. During this time helping her with treatments and care was something I did regularly and willingly. It was during the hospital stays and doctor appointments I viewed first-hand the tremendous positive impact nurses have on the lives of their patients and family members. The nurses that cared for my mother also cared for me. They showed me

After a while of sitting in my grandparents living room mindlessly playing with my toys I decided to get up. I walked towards the commotion going on in the small hallway connecting the living room to the kitchen. The gathering of people consisted of my mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma. Curious about what was going on I walked over to the group. I reached my mom and looked up to see that her eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying. I looked over to my dad and his face, like everyone else's, was grim. During this time I kept hearing one repeating word, cancer. I started to listen more closely to the conversation going on around me because even at the age of seven I knew that cancer was bad news. I listened intently and heard my mom explain how she had colon cancer.

In the year of 2014, it was a hard time for my family and me. Throughout the whole year of 2014, my grandpa was in and out of the hospital weeks turning into months at a time. He was the healthiest man, but that year really took a toll on him, which resulted in him extended hospital stays. Throughout the whole year, the nurses became so close with the family seeing how they would conversate with our family so much. The nurses provided so much security and assurance within their scope of practice within my grandpa’s hospital stays. It was the nurses in the room late nights and early mornings keeping my grandma and family company, displaying their empathy and treating us like their very own family. We all shared laughs, prayers, hugs, and cries all while concluding their job duties. The words spoken by Maya Angelou, “I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but will never forget how you made them feel.” From every doctor, nurse to janitorial staff that had an encounter with my grandpa and my

Finally, the nurse came and allowed us entrance to one of our worst nightmares. There the whole family stood with the understanding that they were taking the ventilator off and this could be the last time we would ever see this amazing woman. Each grandchild took their time getting one last hug and saying goodbye. I stood waiting my turn thinking how could I ever possibly whisper into words the gratitude and admiration I had for this wonderful woman. The whole room was on edge trying to be strong for each other. Eventually it was my Aunt Julia’s turn. As she stood there holding my grandmother’s hand crying saying, “Momma, it’s your little girl, please wake up, I know you can do it, you’re strong enough”. I thought my heart would explode. Then, as my dad, the strongest man I know, went over to pull her away from the bedside he began to sob as well. This was almost unbearable to witness without making a scene. I gazed out the window with a desire to be anywhere but in that horribly bleak room facing this unimaginable tragedy with my family that was full of life and laughter. When my Aunt Julia finally was composed once again and acknowledged once again that this was God’s will she said fo the last time, “It’s okay, I understand you are tired. I love you”. The whole room seemed to begin to spin and true mourning was awaken in my soul for this amazingly wonderful woman that held such a

She had been battling breast cancer for two years until she developed a brain tumor that would ultimately be the cause of her life ending. Over the years, we never really saw my Grandmother, Carolyn, in a bad state. We knew about her illness, her operations, and her treatments but we never saw her struggling with it because she was a strong women. Only up until she learned about her brain tumor, she was very good at making sure the family wasn’t worried about her because she knew she was going to die and that it was inevitable. The tumor grew fast and only gave Carol a short amount of time to live. She was diagnosed with six months left to live and she passed after five. The funeral was very hard to deal with. I love Carol and she was a joy but everyone at the funeral took it a lot harder than me. My godmother went up and spoke about her and it was so painful to see so many people crying and wishing that she would come back, including her husband. I tried very hard to be strong for the others in my family but I learned that dealing with pain is all apart of grieving and accepting death.

After multiple emergency room visits with her and my dad, she was admitted just days after our car ride. By this point, my beautiful, rosy haired, blue eyed grandmother had such unbearable pain in and around her abdomen, that it was hard to look at her without feeling the pain she was feeling. Despite the excrucaiting pain of the bladder cancer was slowly making her weaker and weaker, she pushed on. My grandmother was the toughest person I knew and there had been numerous events where she continued to show me and my entire family just how strong she was. Although she was the strongest person I have ever known, she was very fragil and ended up having to come stay with my family and I on hospice care. And throughout my journey with her living with us, I realized just how much we need to cherish every moment with the people that we love. From the days counting down towards her death, I felt as if I had never had done enough with her and that I would do anything to be

I had just started third grade, so I was eight years old. When I came home from school on the first day, my grandparents were waiting for me instead of my parents. They told me that Mommy and Daddy were at the hospital. My dad never came home after that. About a week later he was still in the hospital, so my mom took my little sister and me to see him. Now, I knew that my father had been sick for a while. He was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer about 2 years earlier, but at age six I didn’t really know what cancer was. So, I never thought that my father could have cancer, even though now I knew what it was.

wanted to attend musicals or spend the weekends with his wife. John became reserved and spent most of his time watching television at home. His wife frequently asked him to accompany her on errands, but he declined. It was not until a joyous event took place that John was able to seek happiness once again.

December 25th, 2016: A day filled with overly excited children and stressed out parents who are preparing for the events to come that day. After eagerly ripping through tons of wrapping paper that early morning, my family and I started our journey to the little town of Sobieski, Minnesota. The town may be extremely small and only have a population of less than two hundred people, but it is one of the most significant cities in my life. We soon arrived at my second home, my grandparent’s house, in the next half an hour.