Grandma update

I've been going back and forth on what to write about this and just decided to let it all hang out. The regular readers of this blog are all friends and family and many know Grandma personally.
Dad called me on Thursday and told me that her kidneys had stopped screening out toxins and they expected that she'd probably go that day or Friday. I'd taken the day off of work (under the weather) and could go down to Austin right away.
Got there in the afternoon and went right to the hospital. Dad met me and we went to see her. She's in a bed hooked up to five or six different things. Her eyes were barely open and she didn't seem aware of anything going on. The nurses had told him that she could still hear us and it was probably good for her to hear talking so we stayed in her room and chatted.
She's had issues the last few years. Congestive heart trouble and some kind of muscle weakening disease that affects her swallowing. The kidney trouble was new and very troubling. She was also having trouble breathing on her own so they had her hooked up to a respirator. There was talk of moving her to Mayo to get her set up for dialysis but in the past she made very clear that she wouldn't approve of any medical approach that needed to be done through Mayo. We've interpreted that as a limit to how far she'll push medical help.
Other family members showed up, my cousin Rickey and later my cousins Andrea and Tim. We shared memories of growing up around grandma. Recounted crazy stories from her house in Faribault. I'll share some of these in the next few weeks I'm sure.
Later in the afternoon, she seemed to become more aware. She was gripping with her hand. We told her who was there and that we loved her.
As of this morning she's breathing on her own but the prognosis doesn't look good. We think it's just a matter of time. My brother and sister are both flying in to see her. The family is gathering to say goodbye.
I'll share more news as I have it.