Update Sunday 2-14

Mom is fairly calm. She sleeps a lot and is on morphine which helps not only with pain management but also eases the agitation that is common with the end of life process. Mom is somewhat responsive when we talk to her. She can not speak but is always searching for someone's hand to hold.

We expect that Mom could live for up to 10 days, but likely not more than that. She has not eaten since just before she had her stroke on Friday 2/5, although she attempted to do so for the first 2 days in the hospital. Her swallow reflex is very weak so any food or drink was possibly going to her lungs rather than her stomache. And as of Wednesday we stopped all medical interventions, so she has been off of fluids since then and she really has not had any desire to eat since the stroke. That lack of desire has not affected teh rest of us, as any of you may know we are a family that likes to eat.

We had Mom's priest come in on Friday to give last rites. That was a lovely ceremony, with Julie, Jane, Amy, Ray, Sharon (her home care giver) and me participating by telling what we thought were Mom's best and most memorable qualites. Amy's response was "Love, because she was always giving love and showing love. You can always feel her love when she takes your hand and looks in your eyes, you can feel the love from her heart". Jane said it was her positive attitude, which she displays even in the most difficult situations. Julie said Mom was so non-judgemental, she always accepted people for who they were. Ray said she changed his life by showing how to take things more slowly and appreciating what you have. My comment was that her best quality was her patience. We all felt a bit of closure after that ceremony.

Carole will be coming out on Wednesday, and we will also have Amy, Jane and Monica with us. We are so fortunate to have a strong family support.

This hospice center at Evergreen Hospital is wonderful. We cook dinner here in the evenings and have a spacious room that is very comfortable. Thanks to Ken Miller for the great homemade tortillas and beans, that was a big hit. We are getting some touch therapy for Mom, she had a reiki treatment today that helped to ease her breathing. We are hoping to get massage therapy in the next few days.

Amy has spent the last 4 nights with Mom, and Julie stayed last night. It is helpful to Mom to have someone to hold her hand, she is responsive to that even if she can not verbalize.