Mi abuela (my grandmother)

I was told last week that my abuelita (grandmother) was diagnosed with lung cancer. It made me very sad. She's not very old, in my mind at least, she's 78. I know her health hasn't been great, but she has been better. A few years ago she was diagnosed with diabetes and has done a decent job of managing it.

The last time I went to visit her, it's been a couple of years, she told us that she had fallen on her daily walk to get her abarrotes. Abarrotes are groceries. Anyway, the walk to the store is no picnic. There's a steep ravine between her house and the store, and the path isn't even at all. She fell and broke her ankle that day, a compound fracture. It broke my heart just thinking about that happening to her. Seeing her that moment, she was healing just nicely, walking with a cane and bruising still visible on her ankle.

Getting the news last week made me miss home. I've been trying to keep up with her condition, but results of her biopsy weren't going to be ready until Friday (last week). I waited, and no call Friday. Saturday, halfway through my workout, my sister called. The results were clear, no cancer or tuberculosis. Great news I thought! But, then Vero (my sister) told me that abuela had a blood transfusion Friday night, and it didn't go as expected. She is now in ICU, sedated and hooked up to a respirator.

As of Sunday, no big changes, but dad told me she looked better. They were going back tonight after work to check in on her and help relieve my tia Emma. My tia has been at my abuela's side the whole time. She's missed work for the last two weeks to be with her. I can't say enough about my tia, a working single mom with a 'crazy' teenage son.

I'm not writing to ask for sympathy but to help me deal with the emotion of having a grandmother nearing the end of her life and knowing that she doesn't know Jesus. I plan on flying out there, and will have a more definitive time after I talk to my dad tonight. I hope.