How amazing is this?

[charlie8575]

In late February, my grandmother, at the age of 102, fell and broke her hip while trying to unzip her robe. She lost her balance and went over. This, of course, after my mother and my aunt telling her for quite some time to sit down while doing that. Not with her stubbornness....one of the reasons she's lived as long as she has.

At any rate, Nana was taken right over to Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston and received an emergency hip operation and pin that following morning. The doctor was amazed at her overall physical health, and said she should be okay in the next 2-3 months, reasonable given her age.

After a couple of months, it was discovered that the pin didn't seat quite right this morning when we were finding a short leg and Nana's recovery not going right relative to the rest of her health.

The answer is a total hip replacement. At 102. That they're able to do this safely on someone her age attests to how much better medicine is.

Now, of course, it would've been best if the original pinning had worked, but we'll take the best possible outcome we can get.

The best part? Although my aunt and my mother will be splitting duty up during the full recovery and after, as she can't see too well anymore, she's still expected to be able to go home.

Even twenty years ago, this would've been very difficult. It amazes me that it's happening even now.

Charlie Larkin

[freakshow12]

That is awesome news. 102 is quite a feat in itself. None of us can even fathom the changes in the world a person that old has seen. Most of us will never see that kind of change in our lifetimes

Edited May 13, 2014 by freakshow12

[Tom Geiger]

None of us can even fathom the changes in the world a person that old has seen. Most of us will never see that kind of change in our lifetimes

I heard that more changed in the 20th century than in the previous 19 all together! God bless her!

[Harry P.]

Modern medicine is pretty amazing.

[charlie8575]

And it appears to have worked again.

Nana went in for surgery this morning, and it appears to have been a success. We'll know more in about a day or two.

Charlie Larkin

[Harry P.]

Can you imagine all the changes a 102-year old person has seen?

When she was a girl, commercial air travel was unheard of... most people had no phones... no such thing as TV or radio... heck, even electric lights in your home weren't all that common, especially in rural areas and small towns. I think that people who were born early in the 20th century and have lived a long life probably have seen more change than people from any other era.

[Agent G]

Our prayers are with your Nana. Hope she doesn't mind a little "Hebrew love" sent her way!

Cannot agree with you more Harry.

G

[charlie8575]

Our prayers are with your Nana. Hope she doesn't mind a little "Hebrew love" sent her way!

Cannot agree with you more Harry.

G

She's Armenian- we're not that far off from each other, Wayne.

One thing about the vast bulk of my family- my mother's side, and the old Yankees on Dad's- any sincerely-given well-wishes are always accepted with appreciation and gratitude, regardless of the language or creed they come in. I'm sure this is no different.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

Can you imagine all the changes a 102-year old person has seen?

When she was a girl, commercial air travel was unheard of... most people had no phones... no such thing as TV or radio... heck, even electric lights in your home weren't all that common, especially in rural areas and small towns. I think that people who were born early in the 20th century and have lived a long life probably have seen more change than people from any other era.

It's very true, Harry. My other grandmother passed in 1995 at 89. She lived semi-engaged in science and technology because of my father, who's been an engineer his whole career and my great-grandfather, who was a carpenter. One of my great-uncles was a doctor and another was an engineer, too, so she understood what these advances meant. Up until she died, though, she still had a little trouble using things more complicated than say, a rotary-knob TV, with a couple of exceptions during her working life.

When Nana first saw a "smart" phone a couple of years ago my cousin has, although her eyes were starting to go (she's legally blind now,) she was wondering how something that small could do so much. Dad has worked in computers since the early 1970s, and worked with them his entire career before that as a jet engine test engineer at Lycoming, and he tried to explain to her how they compared to Univac, a thing she could understand- and there was none. It amazed her that something that small could hold her little record collection, take halfway-decent pictures, allow you to talk to people and find stuff all over the globe.

She's been astounded by what her doctors can do, too. As have we all.

And she's still shocked at how bad most hospital food still is despite all these other advances. She gave the nurse an earful earlier.

Charlie Larkin

[Tom Geiger]

You'd think with all the advances of recent decades that they would've fixed the hospital food issue by now!

Then again, some people like it... there's even a chain that sells hospital food... Boston Chicken!

[Skip]

Your Nana sounds a lot like my Grandmother, she was just a couple of months shy of 100 when she passed, very spunky gal too. She was still managing her stock portfolio almost to the day she died! (She did well on the Stock Market too!!) You don't get to live to triple digits being a stick in the mud. Wish her well.

Just a few years ago a broken hip was almost a death sentence for older folks, now it's for the most part another dip in the road. Medicine has come a long way.

[charlie8575]

Oh, she's spunky, allright!

She's definitely on the mend, she, my mother and aunt had a three-way hissy fit this afternoon while my father had to sit through it all! I was home.

I'll be going to see her sometime this week in all likelihood.

Charlie Larkin

[Modelmartin]

You'd think with all the advances of recent decades that they would've fixed the hospital food issue by now!

Then again, some people like it... there's even a chain that sells hospital food... Boston Chicken!

Funniest thing I have read in a bit!

[Pete J.]

I spent some time in hospitals of late(no I not 102 but sometimes feel like it) and I have had discussions with the dieticians. Although the local hospital has very good food for a large institution, the main problem is that they generally take commercial recipes an take all the bad stuff, like fat and salt out of them. When we go out, those ingredients are what makes taste the way it does. It takes a lot of talent to cook fine food without these cheap and readily available "taste makers". As a cardiac patient, I have learned to limit the amount that I use but substitutes are not cheap. Olive oil is a good fat substitute but it is far more expensive than lard or butter. Fresh herbs can be substituted for salt but again they are not cheap. Our local hospital is a 600 bed unit so with employees, they serve over 3000 meals a day. Imagine what kind of restaurant it would take to do that. Kind of ups the challenge when you are cooking to very specific health criteria.

[charlie8575]

Good news...and relief for the nurses at rehab.

Nana is heading home later today. She's walking almost completely by herself- still will need a walker, but she's about 95% there. She'll have some 24-hour help for a while, anyway, and my mother and my aunt are going to take it over.

I have to go to Boston on Friday for something else, so I'll be seeing her then.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

I spent some time in hospitals of late(no I not 102 but sometimes feel like it) and I have had discussions with the dieticians. Although the local hospital has very good food for a large institution, the main problem is that they generally take commercial recipes an take all the bad stuff, like fat and salt out of them. When we go out, those ingredients are what makes taste the way it does. It takes a lot of talent to cook fine food without these cheap and readily available "taste makers". As a cardiac patient, I have learned to limit the amount that I use but substitutes are not cheap. Olive oil is a good fat substitute but it is far more expensive than lard or butter. Fresh herbs can be substituted for salt but again they are not cheap. Our local hospital is a 600 bed unit so with employees, they serve over 3000 meals a day. Imagine what kind of restaurant it would take to do that. Kind of ups the challenge when you are cooking to very specific health criteria.

Dad has to watch blood pressure (partially hereditary, and partially because of the morons he works with/for...VA, need I say more?,) and I've been swearing by Mrs. Dash in most varieties for a long time. It tastes good and has no salt. It's not "cheap," but it's not too bad, either. Occasionally, you can get big bottles of the stuff at pretty hefty discount, and it shows up from time to time at Ocean State Job Lot- Big Lots might have it, too, on occasion, at very noticeable savings, or something comparable.

I use olive oil when possible/advisable/practical and canola oil otherwise.

Olivio is good, too. The fat-free stuff isn't, but the regular stuff is pretty good and doesn't have too much of the nasty stuff in it.

Charlie Larkin