I spent 4 hours in the ER with my Grandma yesterday - she had a severe skin infection which had traveled from both forearms, across her chest, up on her neck, and across half of her face. It left her skin bright red, raw, and horribly itchy - to the point where she had open wounds where flesh once was! My parents are out of town until tomorrow so I had to make a quick decision. I mean her forearms were literally twice their normal size. She didn't want to go to the ER, she kept telling me 'it'll go away' and 'baby oil will help' (that's her cure for everything), but I knew whatever was going on with her skin was super serious.

So we arrived at the ER and while we sat in an exam room - a woman collected a lot of blood samples, 2 blood cultures, and a mouth swab. I think they were checking to see if she had a bacterial or viral infection, but all the tests were negative. The doctor sent us home with an antibiotic prescription and also one for a steroid, which he said would clear up her severe skin infection. He said the steroid might even help relieve some of her arthritic pain in her wrists, but it would probably only be a temporary positive side effect.

She had been freezing for 4 hours at the ER - why do they have to keep those exam rooms so cold! The nurse was very nice and brought her 2 blankets and a warming pad to put against her. I felt so bad for her. She wanted to itch, but the nurses wouldn't allow it. It's difficult sometimes with her advanced dementia to read her at times, but I could tell she was really miserable with all the horrible itching she was experiencing.

When I got her back to her Senior apartment, I gave her the first dose of her medications, and had her climb into bed. I'm glad my parents will be returning tomorrow - that was very scary and stressful. Hopefully her skin infection will clear up quickly and she'll be back to her old self again.

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I wasn't able to help my brother-in-law paint the baby's room on Saturday because my parents had to leave town to attend a funeral, but we'll try for next Saturday.

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Classes begin on Wednesday. I know I've mentioned this a ton of times, but it's so close now. I'm anxious and excited and SO ready for the semester to be here!