Again, thank you for your prayers.
My dad remains peaceful and in no pain. The nurses from hospice remark that they have never seen someone who looks so peaceful. I know the prayers of the thousands of people who are praying for my dad and family are working amazingly well…supernaturally powerful.
Dad’s blood pressure is 102 over 47 and his heart beat is only 40. The nurse says that this is the time that most patients pass on to their rewards. I am truly astounded that my dad could live this long after 6 days of no food or water. One nurse told me she worked with a female patient that lived for 30 days without food or water.
Now that is mind-blowing.
I don’t think my dad will last that long.
Each each extra second with him is precious. Praying with him and holding his hand and telling him how much I love him and what a hero he was to me, is very fulfilling.
I encourage anyone who is contemplating taking care of a mom or dad or family member who is dying at home, DO IT!
It is one of the most challenging, character-building and rewarding things you will ever do in your life. I cannot begin to describe just how tough it has been and how much Janet, my sister Denise, her husband Kurt and I have sacrificed to take care of my parents to the end.
However, now that my promise to make it possible for my mom and dad to die at home, surrounded by their loved ones, is near culmination, I am ecstatic that their suffering ended in a peaceful, joyful and tender environment. My heart goes out to all the moms and dads condemned to the nursing homes, ill-treated, ignored and in some cases abused.
PLEASE take care of your mom and dad at home. YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY OR ASHAMED!
You will never be sorry and you can hold your head high because you did the right thing. You will have the marvelous opportunity to meet some real angels here on earth in the form of the hospice nurses, doctors, grief counselors, chaplains and virtually everyone you meet that is involved with hospice.
There is one passage in one of the books of the bible that has provided me with the grace to carry on for 4 years. I hope it gives you strength and inspiration if you are in a similar situation.
“God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons. Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them.
When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother.
Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and when he prays he is heard. Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he obeys his father who brings comfort to his mother.
My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives. Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins–a house raised in justice to you.”