We had a really great day on Tuesday! Papa was alert and happy, he ate his dinner out at the table with us, all without a gag, or a hiccup to be heard. It seemed he was beating death for the time being, our thoughts turned from weeks to maybe months with him on Earth?
But at 8 Tuesday night, Papa lost movement in his left side. And instead of passing after a few minutes, it stayed paralyzed. The next morning, it had not returned fully, which means Dale was lifting him into the wheelchair and lifting him in the bathroom.
Poor guy fell during the night and banged up his knees because he didn’t want to be a bother and yell for us. We knew Wednesday, that we had some big decisions to make. Early on in his time in our home, we had established a “line in the sand” and after several messes, lots of vomit and a Papa no longer able to make it to the bathroom because he couldn’t walk, we knew we had reached that line.
It’s so strange, we knew it was coming, but it still took the rug out from under us and we spent the majority of the day, talking with Papa, praying over him, loving on him and crying with him. He knew what the move to Hospice meant, he knew his body was showing all the signs of being done.
Hospice is amazing, I can’t say that enough, Miss Janet, our nurse, Miss Marsha, our social worker and Miss Jennifer our Home Health Care nurse, were here in no time flat, all working like a well-oiled machine to clean up Papa, assess the situation, and make the necessary arrangements for his transfer.
We had some special folks stop by, right before me moved him.
Papa’s adopted parents and his pastor:
I loved hearing them pray with him, read him the Psalms, and his parents sang and played harmonica. They are 93 and just completely adorable together!
It was a precious last “Papa Memory” in our home……
I don’t know what it is about Wednesdays, but Wednesday, February 26th, Papa moved in, and Wednesday, March 12th, Papa moved out and went to Hospice House. Longest, hardest, best 2 weeks ever.
The Father knew the number of Papa Don’s days on Earth before He even created him, He knows the exact moment He will call him home.
Hospice, who know the signs the body gives at the end, are guessing we are down to the “days to a week” stage of the game. We plan go to Hospice House every day, do homework there, practice piano, play together, eat supper and stay until the kids bedtime. We don’t want to waste a precious second. Dale will stay until Papa is ready to sleep, and he will head back over in the morning, after dropping kids at school each day.
Alright, that was my big update, now back to the food I scheduled a month ago, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day….bless you all for your love and compassion for my family.
4 little Fergusons 