Bad week

So, we're here for a funeral, obviously. We flew down late last night, and my grandparents picked us up at the airport late (our flight was scheduled to come in at 12:15, but was delayed until 12:45am). We didn't get back to Lakeland until 2am. Neither myself nor my husband could sleep, and we were up until around 5:30am. At 9:30am, my grandfather woke us up, informed us that my grandmother had lost her ability to speak, and was on her way to the ER via ambulance (we heard none of this going on, mind you).

Today, we've spent part of the day with my grandmother in the hospital, part napping. The current consensus is that she had a transient ischemic accident (TIA) - or a "mini-stroke." I think an MRI would be helpful in diagnosing this, but she has a pacemaker, so it's not possible.

Right now, she is suffering aphasia - she knows the word she wants to say, but she can't actually get it out. When we first got to the ER, I had to fight back tears. My grandmother is a retired English teacher and always articulate. She has never really been ill in all the time that I can remember. Seeing her struggle so was extremely upsetting. Her condition is stable, but she is still struggling to talk. My grandfather is spending the night with her, and we'll take shifts tomorrow. She doesn't like being alone because she's having trouble communicating with people, and it's very stressful for her.

On top of that, my aunt was recently diagnosed with uterine cancer with ovarian metastases and has to start chemotherapy.

Our family is having a hard time lately, please keep us in your thoughts - we need them!