Hospice

Today was another eventful day. Krist was here first thing in the morning with a extra hot latte for me and a mango vivano for Jon. I went into work for a few hours just to get the necessities done and was home by 11 to meet with the Hospice nurse. She was very kind and informative. We discussed our goals (managing Jon's pain, improving his appetite.) She went over his meds and was absolutely mortified to find that the last pharmacy had given him the wrong long acting Oxycontin, instead it was just a higher dose of the short acting that he was already taken. The way it was labeled was absolutely impossible to tell the difference until she looked at the pills themselves. So basically he has been under medicated all last week. No wonder he has been so miserable! I thought the nurse was actually going to break into tears knowing how much Jon has been suffering. She held his hand, looked him in the eye and said "Jon, you don't have to hurt like this." She phoned in the correct prescriptions and Granny and Steve picked them up for me on their way to visit.

We started him on the new dose of long-acting Oxycontin and he had some immediate improvement in his pain. He is very loopy and confused...he even tried to get me to put his suspenders on his address book??!! but he does not have any pain to speak of. I gave him a bath (yikes was that bathwater black!), a good skin brushing, and a bowl of ice cream with strawberries. He is the most relaxed I have seen him in months. He is being very sweet and appreciative. When he was in the tub he looked at me and said "Doc, I can't believe how beautiful you are." It nearly made me cry.

Kristi continues to be our angel. She spent the day helping with Jon, fed us dinner, and is now on the way to pick up Staci from the airport.

Kelsey is feeling overwhelmed with emotion and is processing in his own way...time alone and the time with his friends. He says he's OK and dealing with it all but I worry constantly about him.

Levi just returned from the hospital where Maelie was just admitted for intestinal ileacus. She has been vomiting and in pain all week. Emilie has had her back and forth to the doctors who finally admitted her today for tests. They are planning on keeping her overnight for IV fluids and bowel rest. Levi, Ericka, and Wyatt are all snuggled at home for a little bit of piece and quite. Today was Ericka's day for a complete meltdown and Levi was right behind her.

Elizabeth has stopped vomiting but her little dog Audrey is very sick from being neutered earlier this week. She is currently taking her from the regular vet to the emergency vet for constant monitoring over the weekend. Please add our little dog to our long, long list of prayer request.

The hospice nurse expects that Jon will be pretty loopy for about three days but then seriously expects him to be more functional when he gets used to the higher dose of oxycodone/Oxycontin. I am really appreciating the pain being under control and the turn-around in his demeanor. It makes me cry to think he has been suffering like this needlessly. I am hoping for a few better days ahead.

As for me, I am just putting one foot in front of the other.