3 replies to this topic

[Julie Daube]

My step mom (Betty) called last night. Dad is back in the hospital after being in a nursing home, and he's "very, very sick," she said. He has full-blown pneumonia, is running a temperature, is not communicating with anyone and mostly just groans. He is receiving breathing treatments, including a nebulizer (my mother-in-law was getting a nebulizer treatment when her COPD had progressed to the final stages). He is on antibiotics and can't have any food or drink. His arm is swollen up, which could indicate congestive heart failure. His skin is cracked as well.

When Betty told a nurse that he was at Brentwood nursing home, the nurse said she knows about the home and wouldn't send him back there. I didn't realize it was that bad; it seemed like a decent place when I was there but obviously short-staffed, which is typical of most skilled nursing facilities. Betty told she doesn't know what she should do if he doesn't go back to Brentwood because she can't care for him at home. So I recommended she look into hospice care, which is not necessarily for someone who is dying but for people who have critical health conditions that won't get better with time and they don't want aggressive treatment but mainly want to be kept comfortable. I told her that hospice care greatly increased Charlotte's quality of life and relieved a lot of the burden for her care from Alex and me. So she's going to look into it. She was reluctant to do so previously because she was hoping he would still rebound like he did before. I told her hospice care could actually help him to rebound, like it did with my mother-in-law. After being near death, she had six weeks of increased health and energy before deteriorating again; then the hospice team was able to keep her very comfortable and peaceful in her final two days of life.

Please pray for God's mercy and perfect will to be done. Thanks for your prayers! Would also appreciate prayers for strength and peace for Betty (and peace for me as well).

[RuthAnn Nicholls]

Praying for your daddy's healing as well as for Betty and you. I'm so sorry, Julie. This is so hard.

God's will is always done and it will be done now. May his mercy and grace ease your worry and pain.

[Julie Daube]

Julie, praying God's comfort for you and your family…particularly an overwhelming sense of His supreme care for Betty.

Thanks so much, dear friend and brother.