sobo ha igusuri wo nonde sukosi yasundara, dandan kaihukusite kita to itte ita.

飲んで is the -て form of 飲む, and here it links actions in sequence:

• 胃薬を飲んで = taking stomach medicine / after taking stomach medicine
• 少し休んだら = and when/after resting a little

So 飲んで connects the first action to the next one smoothly. It often works like and, then, or after doing depending on context.

In this sentence, the flow is:

1. she took stomach medicine
2. she rested a little
3. she gradually recovered

Here it means when/after she rested a little, not a real if.

The form -たら can mean both:

• if
• when/after

In this sentence, the actions are describing what actually happened, so the natural reading is after resting a little.

So:

• 少し休んだら、だんだん回復してきた = after resting a little, she gradually started to recover

It is not presenting a hypothetical situation here.

少し means a little / for a short while / somewhat, and here it modifies 休んだ:

• 少し休んだら = after resting a little

So it tells you the amount/degree of resting.

There is no particle after 少し because it is being used adverbially, like an adverb in English.

Compare:

• 少し休む = rest a little
• 少し回復した = recovered a little

The subject is omitted because it is understood from context. In Japanese, this happens all the time.

The topic at the beginning is 祖母は (as for my grandmother), so the listener naturally understands that the grandmother is the one who:

• took the medicine
• rested a little
• gradually recovered
• said this

So 回復してきた means that she was recovering, even though she is not repeated.

だんだん means gradually / little by little.

It shows that the recovery was not sudden, but happened over time.

So:

• 回復してきた = came to recover / started recovering
• だんだん回復してきた = gradually started recovering / gradually got better

It gives the sentence a more natural sense of physical recovery.

This is a very important nuance.

• 回復した = recovered / got better
  • states the result more simply
• 回復してきた = has been recovering / has started to recover and the change has been developing up to that point

The -てくる part often shows a change that has progressed toward the present point.

So だんだん回復してきた suggests something like:

• she had been feeling bad
• then things started improving
• that improvement became noticeable over time

It feels more like an ongoing process than the plain 回復した.

と marks the content of what was said.

So:

• 〜と言っていた = was saying that ~ / said that ~

The part before と is the quotation or reported content:

• 祖母は 胃薬を飲んで少し休んだら、だんだん回復してきた
• と言っていた = was saying / said

In Japanese, と is very commonly used with verbs of speech and thought, such as:

• 言う = say
• 思う = think
• 聞く = ask/hear

言っていた often sounds like was saying or had said, and it is very common in reported speech.

Compared with 言った, 言っていた can feel:

• a bit more descriptive
• like the speaker is recalling what someone had said
• less like a single sharp quote, and more like reported information

So:

• と言った = said
• と言っていた = was saying / had said

In many contexts, と言っていた is the natural choice when you are reporting what someone told you earlier.

Because the two nouns are doing different jobs.

• 祖母は

  • は marks 祖母 as the topic
  • As for my grandmother...

• 胃薬を

  • を marks 胃薬 as the direct object of 飲む
  • drink/take stomach medicine

So the structure is:

• 祖母は = the person we are talking about
• 胃薬を飲んで = what she did

Yes, literally it uses 飲む (to drink), but in Japanese 飲む is also the normal verb for taking medicine by mouth.

So:

• 薬を飲む = take medicine
• 胃薬を飲む = take stomach medicine

Even if in English you would usually say take medicine, Japanese very naturally says medicine + 飲む.

祖母 is the standard word for my grandmother when talking about her in a neutral way.

A few useful distinctions:

• 祖母（そぼ） = my grandmother / one’s grandmother
• おばあさん = grandmother / old lady, depending on context
• おばあちゃん = grandma (more casual, affectionate)

In a plain narrative sentence like this, 祖母 sounds natural and straightforward.

The most natural reading is that the whole preceding clause is the content of what she said:

• 胃薬を飲んで少し休んだら、だんだん回復してきた = After taking stomach medicine and resting a little, I gradually started to recover

Because Japanese often leaves out pronouns, the grandmother is understood to be talking about herself.

So the full sense is something like:

• Grandma said that after taking some stomach medicine and resting a little, she gradually started feeling better.

The comma marks a natural pause between:

• the condition/time clause
• and the main result

So the sentence is easier to read as:

• 胃薬を飲んで少し休んだら、
• だんだん回復してきた

It is similar to writing:

• After taking stomach medicine and resting a little, she gradually recovered.

Japanese commas are often used for readability and rhythm, not only for strict grammar.