Dad

I apologize for not providing an update in a while.  I really need to now.

Dad is in very bad shape.  Over the past month he had declined a bit, and somewhere during that time they put him on oxygen (permanently).  Then this past Thursday, Liz called to say that he was coughing a lot and having severe breathing problems, scaring himself and Mom.  His lungs are filled with gunk, no doubt caused by aspiration.  They have him on a little bit of morphine to open his airways (not for pain) and some other stuff to help dry up the gunk, but the doctor says he is likely not going to come through this.  He has a bit of a temperature which the doctor says is the beginning of pneumonia.  They are not giving him food or water at this time (or ever?)  because it will just exacerbate the problem, though it seems to be allowable to give him some ice chips.  He is getting very dehydrated as you might imagine.  Hospice is involved now to help keep him comfortable.  Mostly, he sleeps.

Thursday when it was exceptionally bad, all of us siblings came down to be with him and Mom.  Fortunately, the terrible coughing stopped around that time and the morphine started to help his breathing.  It was good to all be together.  We played some 'Dad music' and he tapped his fingers along with the songs.  Josh, Lauren, and Rebekah came up to see him Friday morn, which he liked.  Sharon stopped by, too.  Some of the time his eyes were open and he was alert.  Most of the time, he was resting with eyes closed but listening and would answer briefly and quietly when we spoke to him.  MB and I came down with Luke and Jake today (Luke home for fall break).  Dor had been there earlier.  He had his eyes closed almost the whole time, but still was mostly conscious and listening to us.  It just takes a lot energy to talk or open his eyes.

Mom -- who BTW has permanently moved into the room -- seems to be OK other than being scared when he was having trouble breathing.  She understands where this is headed.  She is in the room with him almost all the time now, but unfortunately she cannot easily get up and go over to him.  We did get her to come, sit with him, and hold his hand for a while today.  That meant a great deal to Dad.  Having her there makes him so happy -- you can tell even when he doesn't open his eyes -- though she doesn't really understand it.  He somehow summoned enough energy to put both his hands on hers and pull her over for a kiss -- not an easy maneuver for either of them at this stage.

Seems that time is very short.  Glad that many of the grandkids have gotten to see him.  Also very thankful for Liz who is there so much and for the kindness of the folks at Lima.  And thank you for your prayers.