No Good News...

So Hubby and I went to visit his grandfather (with Matthias), and he looked absolutely horrid.

He was barely responsive, he looked completely sunken in and he complained that something hurt. Hubby's mother stopped by while we were there and she had a fit.

She asked the nurses' aide to call an ambulance, but the ambulance company said that they'd have to call the emergency doctor first, since she was an employee of the nursing home.

Not surprisingly, that didn't fly well with Hubby's mother. She called up the ambulance herself and was yelling at them on the phone telling them that if they DIDN'T come to pick him up NOW, there was a good chance he'd be DEAD before the emergency doctor got there.

I know it sounds weird - an ambulance telling them to call the e-doctor, but that's the bureaucracy they have in Denmark. After normal doctor's hours you call the lægevagt - 'guard/watch doctor' - he's at the hospital and fields calls and sees people and makes house calls if needed.

Problem is, the lægevagt is always busy and you have to wait in a phone queue to speak to him/her. If it's urgent, the lægevagt can send the ambulance over.

To make the story short - Aage was admitted to the hospital and drank nearly a liter of water and had an IV of fluids inserted (he was severely dehydrated) and he was also diagnosed with pneumonia.

He's responsive again and all, but it's still very much touch and go. Hubby's mother was asked to authorize a DNR order, and she refused. I respect her decision even though I don't agree with it. At this point, he has no quality of life left - he can't even hold his own class of water. Why keep him here when he's always been self-sufficient and VERY independent?

Needless to say, with him having pneumonia we won't be bringing the baby to see him in the hospital. Matthias will be getting his vaccinations on Monday, so that night will definitely be interesting.