Stranger than fiction

You can't make this stuff up, I tell ya.

As of yesterday afternoon, Dad was finally released from the hospital. Praise the Lord! I talked to him yesterday morning and he sounded good. Tired, but good. And he was telling me that when he went to the hospital ER at 12:30 in the morning on Monday, he never imagined that he'd still be in the hospital on Thursday. And even further from his mind was the fact that what took him to the ER was something as serious as Crohn's. He said he'd had a stomach ache, but never imagined!

Now we just pray that the insurance company will approve his treatment. He's looking at a 2 hour IV procedure every 2 weeks of Remicade, which was originally developed for rheumatoid arthritis, but has also been found to be helpful in the management of symptoms for Crohn's. There is at least a week wait to hear as to whether the treatment will be insurance approved, so we wait. And hope. And pray. What else can we do?

Now, in a development that we didn't really see coming, Dad had a reason for making that call yesterday morning.

My maternal grandmother passed away. Dude.

She was nearing her 90th birthday and I think that she'd have said that she lived a good life. She'd had a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair about 4 years ago, but she was still fairly sharp mentally for an "old bat".

I miss her.

Her funeral will be Monday afternoon. I was thinking that I was not going to be able to attend, but Jon being the supportive husband that he is had pulled some strings and we will be able to make the trip. It'll have to be quick, since the funeral is in Hannibal, MO and that's 8 hours from here- and Jon will have to be at work by 8am on Tuesday- but it can be done.

The boys will be staying with my in-laws. Whom I love. Did I tell you that?

***Update*** As this post was written, arrangements for the boys were one thing. But I'm not in the mood to be played with, so I went ahead and made other arrangements for the boys. Go me.

As sad as the occasion may be, I look forward to seeing extended family, most of whom I haven't seen since '99. And to get a tiny bit more time with my Mom and Dad, whom I don't see often enough.

And say goodbye to Grandma, whose laughter I will never forget.

This has been a week that I hope never to repeat, really.