I had so hoped that 2014 would prove to be better than 2013.... So far, it's not looking promising.

First my Mother-In-Law was hospitalized. She was in the hospital for 5 days (I think) before she was finally released. They essentially determined that she had diverticulitis. It was quite the scare because at first they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She's doing much better now, so that's a definitely plus.

Less than a week later my sister-in-law was hospitalized. Since that hospitalization was because of a very personal nature, I won't expand on that, but it was a tough situation that while my sister-in-law is okay, my brother and sister-in-law got some bad news.

After that, hubby and left for vacation. Shortly after leaving for vacation, we got a phone call. My hubby's grandmother had fallen and broken her hip. She's 85 years old. Three days later and while we were still gone she had surgery. Sunday she was doing pretty good and was removed from the Intensive Care Unit. We got home Sunday night from vacation, but got a call Monday morning. Grandma was moved back into the Intensive Care Unit during the middle of the night.

At the time they were unsure if was a blood clot or a small heart attack. They did lots of tests and after a lot of blood work and a CT Scan, they did determine that it was due to a massive blood clot. We were told at that time that had she not already been in the hospital, we'd have lost her. Here's where it gets worse. The blood clot is lodged in her heart and did massive damage to the right side of her heart. Essentially, half of her heart is no longer working so the other side is having to work harder and apparently there is also a leaky valve. Also, they have her on 2 different blood thinners, but not the stronger meds that would actually dissolve the clot. The doctors have told us that giving her the stronger med would kill her and basically the only thing they can do at this point is the blood thinners and hope for the best. We were also told Monday afternoon that they really don't expect her to make it out of the hospital and to the rehab center.

There is a very slim chance, but it is slim to the point of non-existent. At this point we're expecting the worst and hoping for the best. Grandma hasn't been told the direness of what is going on, they don't want to stress her out more than she already is. She's alert and as stubborn as ever and wanting to know when she's going to get out of there. Despite all the issues, they plan to start getting her up and starting to walk. The biggest fear is that once they do that, the blood clot will break free. It's a scary situation, but we're muddling through as best as we can.

I'm still writing and will be updating Thwarted soon, though I don't have a chapter written yet. Plus this coming Saturday there will be a new chapter of No More Hiding posting in the Premium section.

I'm still doing the blog, though Trebs and Cia have graciously offered to spell me when needed while I handle things on the homefront, so you may see more posts than usual from Cia and the occasional post from Trebs. I can't say how much I appreciate their help!

I so hope 2014 starts getting better REALLY soon!!!!