Back in March I asked for purrs for my grandmother.

She has congestive heart failure.  That means that her heart is trying
to pump blood too fast.  It goes SO fast that it can't fill with blood
before it contracts, so fluid backs up into her lungs.  And it's going
that fast because, mostly, she's old (94) and her cells just can't get
quite all the oxygen they need.

She pulled through the first attack (we later learned that her records
had not made it from the home to the hospital with her in the
ambulance.  She has a do-not-resucitate order.  But since it wasn't
with her, the doctors started aggressive measures to save her and it
worked.  We aren't angry about that since obviously, in the absence of
the file it is much better for doctors to presume that the person WANTS
life saving intervention than to presume the person doesn't!)

At any rate, congestive heart failure is one of those things that will
kill you in time, it's just a matter of when.

I went to Ontario in April and saw my grandmother.  We had some great
visits.  When I was leaving though, she said she wouldn't see me again.
That night she had a second attack.

She pulled through it too, but said she didn't want to go to the
hospital anymore if it happened again.  She is in the home, on oxygen.
She had a third attack earlier this week.

She is not having a lot of fun right now--she isn't in pain, but
spending your time in a chair with an oxygen mask and catheter isn't a
great long-term way to live, and she's almost blind too with very
little to do.  She sleeps a lot.

Thank you for your purrs.  It is only a matter of time really, but it's
going to be time, and she recognizes that.

--Fil