I never imagined I would see my Grandpa looking like that. He had a bandage/dressing wrapped around his face from crown to jaw, as well as around his neck, as the lesion from his skin cancer had been bleeding. He looked like a very old Eleanor of Acquitaine, lying there.
I think Dr. House is right; there is no dignity in death. *sigh* You look like crap, you're unconscious, and your family stands around you, talking about all sorts of things, including details of your intimate personal care. I really did not need or want to know about the TMI. But if I had whinged about it, I would have seemed immature, so I kept my mouth shut. It is foolish to be embarrassed at something you didn't have to face, when another relative did face it without complaint and with devotion.
We stayed there for about three hours, until Grandma said she wanted to go home. I felt weird doing that, but I had to agree with her. Grandpa was functioning at a very low level, but he was essentially stable; he wasn't on life support or anything. He doesn't even have an IV in, just an NG tube. So my parents took Grandma home. Mark and I went to lunch, and then he took me back to work, and Aunt Wilma stayed with Grandpa for a while.
So I'm not sure what the coming days will bring. I'll post more in here as I know more. Work was busy, which was good.