I can’t quite decide which words to start with, so I’ll use the last ones we spoke to my dad: “Well done good and faithful servant…come and share your master’s happiness!” Our pastor did a commendation of the dying, my family shared in the sacrament of Holy Communion, and the nurse removed the ventilator and made him comfortable. We gathered around him and sang the Nunc Dimittis and the Doxology - and his eyes opened when we first started singing. We sang several more hymns: Savior of ... Read More about Farewells

My mom’s mom died of breast cancer at 60. My mom was my age at the time, with two little kids at home. I was only 3, so I remember very little of this traumatic time for my mom. She purchased this ugly little statue during this time. I never knew where he came from, but she shared with me today that she bought it for her mom. She told her that if love alone could cure, she would be healed and home. We brought this statue to my dad’s ICU room today. Tonight I also had the privilege of ... Read More about If love alone could cure

Things I’ve learned over the last week: Many healthcare providers use euphemisms for death. The palliative rep kept talking about a “landing place” - where a patient might go after deciding to switch to “comfort care” from active treatment. Basically, where a person goes to die. As we discussed further treatment options we asked the doctor about the cost/benefit of the more invasive ones. After admitting that an additional bronchoscopy could yield very little information for a man who may ... Read More about Things I’ve Learned in the ICU

Thursday - is it Thursday? Update: my dad has been on a ventilator since Wednesday of last week, and heavily sedated too. We’ve learned that sedation isn’t like a reverse dimmer light switch - we assumed that you turn it down then the patient brightens right up. Nope! We need my dad to rouse so we can do a breathing trial, which is when they see how much he can breathe without the ventilator. He’s been off sedation completely for two days, and his body isn’t responding to any stimuli yet. ... Read More about Ventilator Update

This past week may have been the worst of my life. My dad was hospitalized last Monday as the result of a months long fight that began when one lung infection turned into pneumonia which turned into Covid which ended up as a staph infection that went septic. Are you tired yet? I sure am. I’ve been back and forth to the hospital with my mom and brother and our pastor and several friends multiple times since the ambulance arrived last Monday. My husband is deployed; he’s been gone since May ... Read More about Praying for Miracles