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against all odds
  • "Against All Odds"
  • by Paula Sales
  • We had wooden floors in the house. When someone would walk we could hear the steps and know the pace of the person. It was early morning, around 3 AM. I was sound asleep but I eventually was half awake because my grandfather kept walking in and out of my room. He kept getting my phone and going to their room. My grandparents slept in the room adjacent to mine. I eventually gave up trying to go to sleep so I stayed awake but kept my eyes closed so that I could figure out what was going on.
  • I heard continuous beeps coming from my phone. I knew my grandpa was trying to reach someone. I finally heard him speak and he said, "Lucille, Lola cannot babysit today. she's not feeling well. Please call me back."

  • I sighed with relief and even told myself, "Oh, Lola is just not feeling well." My muscles relaxed and I went back to sleep. After a few minutes, I was startled by the sound of the garage door opening.
  • Mom was home. Her heels clicked. The clicking sound became more frequent. She was increasing her speed. She ran up the stairs and dashed into my grandparents' room. Immediately, I heard sobbing.
  • My muscles contracted and I had a heavy feeling in my chest but I continued to pretend I was asleep. I heard three loud beeps. They called 911. After about 10 minutes, paramedics filled the house. I did not actually see them but based on what they were saying, I knew who they were. My mom did not stop crying.
  • I did not hear a word from my grandpa.He was probably in shock. I still pretended to be asleep. I did not want to open my eyes. I was in denial. I did not want to wake up to realzie this nightmare was not made up. I too was in shock like my grandpa.
  • My mom went to my room, still sobbing but then I heard my grandpa tell her, "Don't wake her up."
  • My mom's crying continued but eventually all the sound transferred to the lower level of the house and the house gradually became silent. When there was complete silence, I knew I was alone. I knew that they were all at the hospital. I knew that my grandma could possibly be dead. It all sank in finally and I started to scream and cry into my pillow.
  • All the sounds that I made were muffled by the pillow. I continued to cry while that morning kept replaying in my head. I actually fell asleep and I realized this because my mom woke me up. When she woke me up, I had hope in my heart that it was all a dream but as soon as I opened my eyes I saw nothing but pain in my mom's face. Her eyes were swollen and her eyeliner streaked from the rims of her eyes.
  • She probably knew I cried because my eyes too were swollen so she restrained herself from crying when she said, "Lola's at the hospital." I too restrained myself from crying because I knew that seeing me sad would cause her more pain.
  • After brushing my teeth and changing into the first clothes I saw in my closet, we left for the hospital. In entering the hospital, all I saw was white and people in scrubs with clipboards going to different rooms. When we were close to my grandma's room at the ICU, all I felt and saw was pain and sadness.
  • Everyone was crying while gripping a rosary in their right hand. My grandpa however was the only one not crying. He knew he had to be strong. I looked at his eyes though and they no longer had joy behind them. 

  • I kept pushing myself to not cry but when I saw Lola I broke down. Her eyes were closed but her curly black hair was pulled away from her face by a black headband. She had so many wires and tubes hooked up to her and she was not responding to any of us. She was unconscious and machine-dependent. I broke down and all my relatives gathered around me and comforted me.

  • My grandpa made me sit down. He was the first to tell me what exactly happenned to her. He told me she had a brain hemorrhage. His news was followed by advice. He told me to be strong and pray. 

  • When he left, I started praying. My crying started again and did not stop because I had flashbacks of her caring for me eversince I was little. I saw her as my other mother. She raised me when my parents had difficulty making ends meet. It seemed like, the heavy feeling inside got worse as memories with her and of her made themselves more and more available. I continued to pray. We needed God's help. We needed it now.
  • We all stayed at the ICU. It's as if our world was put on pause. Our relatives from other countries also called in crying but assured us they'll be offering mass for her. We needed everyone to pray. We needed God's grace.

  • After 3 days, I started to lose hope after I heard the various doctors' advice to my family. They all suggested pulling the plug because it was hopeless. No operation can help her condition. The bleeding was too severe and in areas too difficult to operate around. Everyone expressed their opinion on what we should do but my grandpa decided to leave it to God and NOT pull the plug.
  • 
 The next day, my grandpa made me go back to school because he said that is what my grandma would want. I was a mess at school. People tried to talk to me but I told them I did not want to talk about it. I isolated myself and did all my work as fast as I could so that I could go back to the hospital right away.

  • When I returned to the hospital, the doctors told me that she had some facial expressions but the bleeding was getting worse. She still could not open her eyes or move any of her body parts. My little cousin was there and he was singing to her "You'll Be In My Heart" by Phil Collins to her.
  • I left the room immediately after seeing pain in my grandma's face while he sang to her. She looked like she was crying but she was incapable of producing tears or sound. I stayed outside and cried till I was tired. My grandpa sat next to me and told me that the doctors were telling him to pull the plug so that she does not suffer anymore. He told me that he still believes that her life should be in God's hands. I looked at his face, expecting to see to see strength but he was crying as he said the words, "If it's her time to go, it's her time to go and we all have to accept that."

  • I continued to go to school and all my relatives resumed going back to work. We had to try to move on but we still saw each other at the hospital everyday. We were slowly accepting the possibility that it may be her time. We continued to pray though and hope for her recovery. Even if the doctors tried to convince us to pull the plug, we stuck by my grandpa's decision.

  • On the morning of November 11th, I was at my aunt's house and we received a phone call from my grandfather. I hesitated to answer and my heart felt like it stopped beating because I was expecting the worse. I picked up the phone and asked, "Is everything okay?"
  • My grandpa said, you're grandma wke up today! I cried. We all cried but this time, these were tears of joy. We rushed to the hospital and the atmosphere was completely diferent. Everyone was so happy. The doctors were in shock. They could not wrap their brains around the event at hand. All the blood in her brain disappeared!
  • 
My grandpa beamed. He told me, "Paula, can you imagine? She woke up on the day of our anniversary!" I saw tears filling his eyes but this time, his tears were accomponied with a smile that reached his ears. I ran to my grandma. I kissed and hugged her. I was saying over and over in my head, "Thank you God."

  • Those events changed me forever. I grew up while learning many things. It made me value all the time I have with people I love. It made me realize how fragile life really is. I learned that family is extremely important and it is an excellent support system. Most of all, my grandma waking up when all the doctors told her it was hopeless, made me believe in miracles. Due to my grandma, I never doubted the existence and possibilities of miracles occurring.

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