… the online home of a librarian in Perth, Western Australia
Mama passed away early this morning (0305). I’ve been at work today idly trying to keep busy and preoccupied. (Emphasis on the word idly - I don’t think I have been at my most productive today.)
I’ve had a lump in my throat all day, and like two of my sisters, I’m glad she is no longer in any physical and emotional pain.
My grandmother (嫲嫲 Mama) is still in hospital. Her condition seems to have stabilised a bit (her heart failure is severe, however, and her kidneys are failing as well now) for the moment. She enjoys seeing us when we visit, and is reminiscing a lot, as well advising and reminding people of their obligations.
This past week has been very hectic, with daily visits to the hospital, followed by family get-togethers. A few family members have flown in from different parts of Australia, and it’s been good to see people, even if the occasion is a sad one.
I seem to be playing a particular role when we’re all around 嫲嫲 Mama’s bed, as interpreter. Most of 嫲嫲 Mama’s conversation with us is in Cantonese, a language which, sadly, some family members don’t understand or speak all that well. And when we were at the hospital yesterday a relative from Dad’s side of the family visited - and she spoke Malay. I’m glad to be able to help, of course. It must be a bit frustrating for M and other non-Chinese partners, though, as sometimes the conversations go so fast and are so involved that it is not really possible to interpret, at least not without completely disrupting the flow.
嫲嫲 Mama has been saying that everyone should learn Chinese so they can communicate with her. She’s also instructed me and M to ensure that we write down the family story - in Chinese. When I reminded her that M doesn’t speak, much less write, Chinese, she told me I could help him, and “it doesn’t matter if it takes you a year. Or two. Or even three!”
Baubles the Cat spent yesterday at the vet’s, having anaesthesia, x-rays and blood tests. She’s now home and basking in the sun, having been dosed on anti-nausea medication and more antibiotics. Basically, the tests were inconclusive (ie they aren’t really sure what was making her sick) - there are signs of kidney problems - one of her kidneys appears to be smaller than the other - and some liver enzymes were present in slightly elevated levels, but nothing really stood out. For the time being the vet has decided to treat her for a possible infection, hence the antibiotics. The anti-nausea meds seem to be doing the trick, too, as she hasn’t been vomiting this morning.
It’s going to be challenging medicating her for the next few days, because she seems to have gotten leery of the pill-slathered-with-seafood trick. This morning saw M and CW wrestling with Baubles the Cat, trying to get a tiny anti-nausea pill down her. This exercise ended with CW’s thumb getting rather painfully bitten, M covered in saliva (Baubles’s), and Baubles the Cat somewhat pissed off. We gave up and I stuck the remains of the pill in a dish of seafood in tuna mornay, and thankfully she ate it. The problem with this solution is that it defies the vet’s instructions to give Baubles “bland food” only for the next week or so. *Sigh*
Picture: Still life with old lemon. (See Flickr for explication.)
