The Journey Continues

Today is December 31st—-the last day of 2007. Who knows what it will bring?

The last few days have been very difficult for Aunt Phyllis—yesterday being the worst. First of all, on Saturday, our nurse inserted a catheter as it had been getting very hard and painful for Auntie to be put on the commode. Her fear of falling would incite her to hang on to anything with great strength and her immobility made her stiff as a board increasing the difficulty of turning her, sitting her down, getting her back in a comfortable position in bed. Therefore the catheter which she did not like.

Without going into some of the less pleasant details of the last couple days, I’ll skip to yesterday

A Baby’s Laugh

Have you ever heard a four month old baby laugh? Not coo, nor giggle, but laugh spontaneously and right deep down from the toes? I have…..just two days ago….last Friday to be exact.

Old neighbors who had moved to Ohio two years ago, stopped back in Wauwatosa to visit on their way “home” to Green Bay and with them brought their Springer Spaniel, Finley, whom I used to walk and play with and sit for, and their four month old Baby Boy—Sam. Sam is adorable and looks like his dad. Apparently he’s the spitting image of his dad when he was a baby.

Anyway, I was holding Sam on my lap while talking to his mom, Laura, in our Family Room. Finley, being the SPRINGER that he is, came flying through the living room, then the dining room, through the kitchen, and into the Family Room holding a pink dinosaur in his mouth and stopped right in front of the baby. Sam LAUGHED —out loud! Actually, honestly laughed!! And laughed!!

Finley left the room and soon came flying back in with the same pink dino. Sam LAUGHED again…..a deep “aha, aha, aha, aha”. This went on for many more times; each time the baby laughing deliberately, at will and on time. Laura and I couldn’t believe it and wished his dad had been there to hear him.

It was as if Finley knew what he was making happen as he kept his antics up for such a long time. I just wished I was able to get to my camera in time; but I didn’t want to put the baby down, nor did I want to disrupt the fun. Such joy!

What a delightful time we had with them even though short. A wonderful break from the sadness and stress of caring for our elderly aunt who will shortly be leaving this world for the most glorious next one.

I truly miss you wonderful friends: Tom, Laura, Finley, and now Baby Sam!

Merry Christmas and God’s blessings to all!

Peg

The Journey Continues

It is now December 22, and life for our Auntie is somewhere between here and “there”. To catch up where we left off some time ago, I will fill in. After about 2 weeks, Seasons Hospice had to discontinue around the clock care as our Aunt Phyllis was now somewhat stabilized and pain controlled. We knew she could not be left alone…..after all….she had fallen….and the nurse was in her room!! She was too weak to get up to use the commode on her own; so someone had to be with her at all times.

We decided we were going to give it a try!!

The Ups and Downs of the Journey

Well, we are now at December 9, 2007 and have experienced a variety of situations with Phyllis’ pain, awareness, comfort, attitude, etc. At the beginning of Hospice care Phyllis was complaining of constant pain which is one of the reasons “Continuous Care” was called for. They came to control her pain and make her comfortable. She was and is also very weak and needs help to the commode. The nurses were the only ones allowed to administer her pain medication and she seemed to be asleep most of the time.

This past week she spent about three or four days awake, without pain, eating a lot, etc., but still did not want to be out of bed and needed help, and enjoyed all the attention and company. She did always ask for the people who weren’t there.

Toward Journey’s End

Somewhere around the 20th of November, Pam and Jill of St. Anne’s decided it was time to request Hospice care for Phyllis because of her constant pain and unrest. The next day was incredible! First came the nurse who would assess the situation; then came a Deacon of the Catholic Church who prayed with her, blessed her, and gave her and us the Eucharist; then because Phyllis liked music, a lady with a beautiful voice and guitar came and sang to her; then two ladies came with their little dogs—one a poodle (Coco), and the other with a Pappillon (Jac); and then, of course, “continuous care” which means “around the clock”. What a wonderful gift to all of us concerned! The instance with the dogs brought tears to my eyes as the sight of the dogs made Phyllis smile as she pet the poodle which lay beside her and kissed her intensely. She fell asleep with her hand on the poodle’s back; and the next day remembered that the dog was “soft”. Phyllis loved her own Poodles: Bridget and Missy, whose pictures hang in her living room.

The Ultimate Equestrian Soccer Player

The following was published in the Nov. issue of the “Women’s Soccer Club Newsletter. As you will read, Margie is very gifted in many, many aspects; but her great love of horses is evident in what she is able to do with them, and how she manages her beautiful, clean, well cared for Hillside Farm.

Read the article after the jump

TECH- KNOWL-O-GEE!!!

My ipod froze up on me…if that’s the term for it. Nothing would show up…OR happen! John!!!! Following is an email to and from him telling me what to do. He said: “Now put this in your blog, so if it happens again, you can always look up the solution!” Hope this helps someone else as well. Here it is:

My note:
Dear Tech Support,

My ipod is FROZEN! Can’t turn it off, charge the battery or anything. (&*^&^$%#&^(*#$$^%^ I was going to take it on retreat with me but grrrrr. Don’t know what I did. I’ll have to play with it on Sunday.

DUMB BUNNY!

John’s response:

Did you try a hard reset like we did last time? Press and hold the middle button then hold the menu button. Wait five or so seconds and the iPod will reboot. Then take fingers off the buttons.

– John

Still Hoping

The search for a living donor kidney is getting slimmer. Jack’s sister found out that her blood type is A+ while Jack’s is an O. Our friend, Rosie, also was willing to be tested, but found that her blood type is also A+….same as mine, and our children’s John and Debbie. O is a universal donor, but cannot be donated to except with O. While Jack is doing very well on his “peritoneal dialysis”, and is on the waiting list for a cadaver kidney both at Madison and Froedert in Milwaukee, a living donor kidney is much more beneficial in that rejection is minimized and the life of the kidney increased.

Some day, I imagine if he gets very sick, I will have the courage to put out a plea perhaps in our Church for a donor. Right now, he deals with the 4 times a day “exchanges” and, God bless him, really doesn’t complain, but is grateful for the good health he has. He is a living example of “Faith” and “Goodness” to me.

Next Step

Jack and I have been having real difficulty in our aunt’s health situation. She continues to complain about pain, prefers to stay in bed, changing clothes is not thought of, has some “accidents”, will eat some food but going to the dining room is a chore, doesn’t watch TV (can’t hear but insists she can), nor does she read as she used to (at least the newspaper though old issues). Sometimes she’ll sit up with us for awhile until she hurts or until we have to leave. Lately, one can see the disappointment on her face when we tell her we have to leave, but she says she understands. That is so hard!!! It’s actually easier to leave her when she wants to be in bed and sleep. Her tiny 68# body is hard to find in that big double bed; but because of her hump on her back she has to lie on her side creating somewhat of a bulge in the bed.

We went to St. Anne’s yesterday with the intention of talking to the nurse/supervisor, Pam about what to do next….nursing home?

Kidney Transplant News

There’s a wonderful site on Living Kidney Donation at http://livingdonors.org In it are many answers to questions one might have on donation. God will provide…we know.