Bill's Update

Good evening everyone,

Thursday was nice & calm, but in the night things changed. About 11pm, Dad developed a rattling in his chest & his lungs had filled with fluid. With each breath he was gurgling & I started giving him a new medicine to dry out his lungs & all his secretions. He was restless in the night & would moan frequently. It sounded like he was in pain so I gave him all the pain & relaxing medications I had as frequently as I could, but it didn't seem to help much. The one good thing was that his forehead was smooth without wrinkle. The hospice nurse doubled what I could give him and the next day they started a few new meds. They did say that his moaning & rattling is normal at this stage and that it does not indicate pain if there are no other cues. It's just another sign of his imminent condition. We have him on a new schedule of medications that he gets every 2 hours. Finally around 12 on Friday afternoon, he calmed down significantly. He still has fevers all day. Mom & I have been sleeping together downstairs & will again tonight.

Today both a Deacon & a priest came & Dad received the Last Rites again. Tante Betty came for morning coffee, John came for lunch, Mike mowed the lawn, and Marisca & Frank came for dinner. It's a funny thing, right now at 9pm, Mike, Tony, John & Mom are all sitting in the living room holding their cell phones teaching mom how to use her new cell phone. Tomorrow if pop is ok the girls are going to go down the street to take Marisca out for breakfast for her birthday.

Ours is not a happy circumstance, but it has brought us all together. We all say we love you more often & there are more hugs shared then ever before. There are tears as we try to deal with letting Dad go & also laughter as we remember the good times. There were so many. Please continue to pray, the end of the race is near.

Much love,
christy

P.S. This picture was from Easter in front of Dad's famous rose garden.