I had mentioned on a Thanksgiving thread about my father. He's been suffering from emphysema and it's not good. Hospice is bringing a bed for their living room this morning. It won't be there very long as the nurse told me last Wednesday night that it may be a week before we'll lose him. I love my dad...I just dearly love my dad.
My aunt (Dad's sister) is also in her last days. She was admitted to hospital on Thanksgiving morning with a raging urinary tract infection and she's not responding to antibiotics. She had been in a nursing home for the last several months; she has dementia. She fell and broke her hip a few months back. Recently, she fell again and now has two pelvic fractures. She's pretty much unresponsive, although when I was in on Saturday, I leaned down and told her who I was. She reached up, took my hands and pressed my hands to her chest. But she never opened her eyes.
The doctor called my sister yesterday and asked if we wanted a feeding tube inserted. After talking to me, we agreed that no feeding tube was necessary, that she should be allowed to pass on. In our opinion, the quality of her life has taken a drastic turn and we want her to die in peace.
Last night, I received a phone call from a friend I met a few years ago when I was walking over lunch. I met their dog first, a beautiful yellow lab, named Molly. The couple is elderly, but she and I got to be pretty close friends and her husband always waited in his chair for me to walk by at lunch. Molly would walk out the driveway, tail wagging, and I'd always talk to her; she was my little canine girl. Bill and I would chat for about 10 minutes or so, then I'd go out in back and chat with Anita, who was always gardening in her flower beds. They had the most beautiful yard in town. Anyway, Bill called me last night; his wife is dying from stomach cancer. I knew she was bad and I had just been in to see them about two weeks ago. She, too, took a drastic turn for the worse; Bill says she probably won't last another week or so.
It's too much. It's just too much right now. Honestly, I'm to the point where I don't know whether I'm coming or going. On Friday night, I think everything just hit me...the reality of losing both my dad and my aunt and I just sat down and cried and cried. DH wasn't home; he and my brother had gone to a football play-off game for our old alma mater. Which was probably a good thing; I don't like to cry in front of anyone.
And then on Sunday, DH started putting the lights on the tree and I broke down again. Dad just loves Christmas and he loved to decorate their house and yard. It was always the neatest house in the neighborhood with a big old Santa on the roof. He loved to work with wood and he was always making something for the yard for Christmas for us.
May I please have good thoughts for my father and my aunt and my friend, that they can all pass on in peace? No more pain for any of them. They've been through so much and they need to be at rest now. Thank you. (And thank you for reading.)
My aunt (Dad's sister) is also in her last days. She was admitted to hospital on Thanksgiving morning with a raging urinary tract infection and she's not responding to antibiotics. She had been in a nursing home for the last several months; she has dementia. She fell and broke her hip a few months back. Recently, she fell again and now has two pelvic fractures. She's pretty much unresponsive, although when I was in on Saturday, I leaned down and told her who I was. She reached up, took my hands and pressed my hands to her chest. But she never opened her eyes.
The doctor called my sister yesterday and asked if we wanted a feeding tube inserted. After talking to me, we agreed that no feeding tube was necessary, that she should be allowed to pass on. In our opinion, the quality of her life has taken a drastic turn and we want her to die in peace.
Last night, I received a phone call from a friend I met a few years ago when I was walking over lunch. I met their dog first, a beautiful yellow lab, named Molly. The couple is elderly, but she and I got to be pretty close friends and her husband always waited in his chair for me to walk by at lunch. Molly would walk out the driveway, tail wagging, and I'd always talk to her; she was my little canine girl. Bill and I would chat for about 10 minutes or so, then I'd go out in back and chat with Anita, who was always gardening in her flower beds. They had the most beautiful yard in town. Anyway, Bill called me last night; his wife is dying from stomach cancer. I knew she was bad and I had just been in to see them about two weeks ago. She, too, took a drastic turn for the worse; Bill says she probably won't last another week or so.
It's too much. It's just too much right now. Honestly, I'm to the point where I don't know whether I'm coming or going. On Friday night, I think everything just hit me...the reality of losing both my dad and my aunt and I just sat down and cried and cried. DH wasn't home; he and my brother had gone to a football play-off game for our old alma mater. Which was probably a good thing; I don't like to cry in front of anyone.
And then on Sunday, DH started putting the lights on the tree and I broke down again. Dad just loves Christmas and he loved to decorate their house and yard. It was always the neatest house in the neighborhood with a big old Santa on the roof. He loved to work with wood and he was always making something for the yard for Christmas for us.
May I please have good thoughts for my father and my aunt and my friend, that they can all pass on in peace? No more pain for any of them. They've been through so much and they need to be at rest now. Thank you. (And thank you for reading.)
You are VERY much in my thoughts, and lots of vibes coming from me! 
It's especially hard during the holidays, and I'm sorry this is all happening at once - and now. 
Mom disagreed and said that he needed the bed and that he was staying in the house where he belongs. Parents!
I know it makes it even harder, being around the holidays. I don't even really know you or your family and I am having to take a deep breath not to start bawling. I guess it's kind of reminding me of my dad too. Hospice kept telling my stepmom he probably wouldn't last the night, I got a last minute flight home to see him and ended up there for almost a month. Not that it was necessarily better, he wasn't really with it, when he was awake, oh I don't know, there's no right thing to say here, so I will stop. Enjoy your time with your dad, and your aunt and your friend. Cry in front people, or just in front of the cats. Do what you need to do. And keep in touch with us here, posting or PMing. You and your family and friends are in my thoughts. 
