Grandpa Ralph Update

I have finally arrived home from NYC to see my grandfather. I had to be in NYC this week for work to become an ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) trainer. This is a training that I have been looking forward to for quite some time. This was also my first trip to NYC, and if any of you read the post from my wife about our anniversary you may have figured out that big cities are not exactly my thing. Althought I did enjoy NYC, my week was definitly hampered by fears for my Grandfather. Many of you may or may not know that I am very very close to my Grandpa. We have always shared a very special bond. When Jen called me Monday to let me know that Grandpa had fallen, I was immediatly overcome with grief and a feeling of guilt that I could not be there for him. I would like to thank the trainers from ASIST and my good friend Mark, who were very supportive, and listened to me vent my feelings of fear, frustration, and guilt of having to be away from home. I arrived in Morgantown about 4:oopm this afternoon, and after a short stop over at the house headed straight to the hospital. I had already had a call from my Dad this morning telling me that Grandpa was really down, and wasn't eating, and that he was looking forward to seeing me. I also had two phone calls from my sister Amy asking where I was at in my travels today. Upon walking into the hospital room, and announcing that I had finally arrived I got to see my Grandfather's mood lighten, and he started to tear up, which of course made me tear up as well. Over the years I have spent a lot of time setting by my Grandpa's bed while he has been in the hosptial. Sometimes we set and talk for hours, and other times we just simply set. I have always hated for him to be alone, so I have always liked staying with him, which has stengthened our bond over the years. Grandpa is doing much better, he has been setting up in the chair today. I arrived in time to help change the dressings on his arm. His arm looks pretty good. The picture that I had in my mind was possibly the worst possible image, so getting to see the damage, and seeing that it wasn't as bad as I had pictured made me feel better. His blood pressure has been doing well all day, but his heart rate is still around the 115 to 120 mark. the doctor has said that he can go home to rest when his resting heart rate goes down between 60 to 70. They did not get to do his surgery on Thursday, for frustrating reasons that I won't go into right know for fear that I will get angry all over again. He is tolerating the pain very well, and it has been controlled by Ibuprofine until he was moved around a lot this evening to get his dressing and clothes changed. The nurse said that she would order him something a little speacial to help releive the pain and to help him sleep. Thank god she has a since of humor and laughed when I asked if she could order enough for two and didn't call the cops. The plan is to give the abrasions on his arms two weeks to heal and then do his surgery. As I was setting here this evening listening to him joke with my sister, brother in law, and myself, I was thinking that I was wonderful that my presence was all it took to lift his mood. While the presence of me and my sister almost certainly helped. I was a little disapointed to find out that they had started him on an anti-depressant. Thank you all for your prayers.