Updates

My aunt Kathy is out of sedation, and has a trach for breathing. She can't speak right now, and is depressed about that. I suggested to my mom that my uncle ask a speech therapist to help Kathy learn to communicate without speaking. Once they wean her completely off of oxygen, they will cap her trach until they determine she won't need it anymore. At that time, she will be able to talk again. Thanks for all of your prayers!! Now, if we can just work on her spiritual health...

My great aunt, Verla, is not doing well. She moved in with my mom several months ago due to being treated for cancer. She had been making a little progress, and had gained some weight (which she really needed to do). About a month ago, Verla fell in my mom's dining room and broke her hip. She entered a nursing home for rehab, and was really doing even better than expected. She was slated to be released from the nursing home last Tuesday. Tuesday morning my mom got a call that Verla was being sent to the hospital. She had pneumonia. On Wednesday she was doing better, but Thursday she started becoming disoriented and wasn't really sure what was going on. She got some sort of scan (I think it was a CT scan, but I'm not positive), and it was discovered that she has at least 6 cancerous spots on her brain, as well as several areas in her skeletal system that are also cancerous. The doctors have not given her a good prognosis, and it appears that if/when she leaves the hospital, she will go into Hospice care. Verla gets very stressed out over little things, and since there is really no hope for recovery from this, the decision was made to not tell her how serious the situation is. I don't know that I agree with that decision, but it's not my choice to make. Prayers for her comfort and wisdom for her doctors in her treatment would be greatly appreciated.

Ande just called me from Carol's, and he said she was doing "pretty good". I think that the fact that Bob was sick for so long perhaps helped her prepare herself a little bit for his death. While I'm sure she's still deeply saddened by his death, I think in a way she's probably a little relieved, because she doesn't have to watch him suffer any more.

Speaking of Ande, he did, in fact, put in his "notice" at the shelter. I'm so looking forward to having him home on the weekend!!

I suppose that is all for now.