We love Dad!

I thought about the scripture tonight "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." It's moving to care for our father in his final days. Tender moments of tonight:

• Lana feeding Dad vanilla ice cream
• Ryan holding up a bowl so Dad could throw up the ice cream (Bummer! Dad was loving that ice cream)
• All the kids lifting Dad to another bed
• Reading through old love notes, some 40 years ago, with my mom
• Watching a slide show of my parents throughout the years
• Browsing through old photo albums and comparing the looks of my Dad back in the 70s to now.
• My siblings attempting to write an obituary.
• My older brother Reid phoning to tell us his family is coming tomorrow! Yea!

It's good to be together and support each other. I love our family!

Drugs and hugs

It was good to see Dad in his own bed finally! He was pretty out of it yesterday afternoon and evening. He was still able to communicate but kept his eyes closed. We gave him lots of hugs and any time he would start to really complain, mom would give him the morphine. At one point when he was really doped up he said "Do you know what the one fault of this family is? We can't get anywhere on time!" I laughed because that truly is the fault of our family. He kept crying out "Let's go! We gotta go!" I love Dad so much and am glad he can still have a sense of humor to make things not so gloomy.

Home at Last

Welcome Home Dad and Grandpa! He just got home today around 1:15 pm. It was a bumpy ride down the stairs and back to his room in the stretcher, but once he got to lay in his bed he said "This is wonderful!" It was so cute. He felt so good to be home in his own bed. I got the whole thing on video tape and took lots of pictures. Hospice came in and talked to mom about everything. I don't know what all they talked about because I was back laying down with dad, but Kelly said they help with all the funeral plans, too. It's a glorious day for all of us.

Welcome home!

Mom walked in the door last night with a big sigh and said that Dad was coming home. I think we all feel a little anxious about this, but mom feels it is the right thing to do. Whether he has hospice at the center or at home-does it matter? They are going to bring in a hospital bed and set up his stuff in the livign room. Mom is such a strong person the way she has dealt with all these ups and downs and big decisions . I think of her famous saying-"God's in charge!" and I find immediate relief.

The Latest

I talked to Kelly. Dad is experiencing the same kind of pain that he was on Friday. They are trying to use every method they can to get his bowels moving, but if nothing helps then it's either take Dad to the hospital or take him home and call in hospice. Kelly said the care center will not bring in hospice so Dad will have to come home for it. Mom is scrambling, taking care of last minute very important items of business and Kelly is staying with Dad. We'll keep you posted on what happens.

Decisions, Decisions

It seems like things are constantly changing and I think we all feel like we are riding an emotional rollercoaster. Mom found out that she can have Hospice come in if they change the orders at the care center from rehabilitation to hospice care. If they do that, Medicare will cover hospice care. Once Hospice comes in, Dad won't receive anymore physical therapy. Mom feels like it would be best to have them do hospice at the care center, so that is the plan FOR NOW. Like I said, with Dad things could always change. He is known as "the come back kid." I think before Craig and I left we heard Dad sat on the toilet and pooped. The question is will he be able to continue having regular bowel movements? We're just all waiting to see what will happen and trying to support Mom and Dad the best we can. I know Mom is inspired to make the choices that are best for her, Dad and our family.

Week ahead

Dad was released from the hospital after spending the night and his stomach has discended again. Our family has decided rather than taking him back and forth to the hospital to bring in hospice instead. Medicare will only pay for hospice if Dad is at home. The problem with bringing him home is that there will be no 24/7 care. Only a nurse will come to administer morphine once a day which means Mom will be the one to provide all his physical and emotional needs. If he has hospice at the care center Mom will only have to provide emotional support. So we're trying to figure out as a family what we should do. Any input would be great.