July 15, 2010
Now we are on a different path. John-paul came back home again, Heidi’s been here a lot, and Janna comes on Sunday. It is not that I am going to die immediately, but it is a shock to hear that now I am in hospice as there is no more blood transfusing, nor any other sort of “life extender” that some people are tempted to try. The pneumonia is a dreadful thing, reminding one just how large a lung is. I have two things to do…one is to push out air from the lung until the pain is unbearable, thus getting the infection to release from the tissue and the other is taking the antibiotic. The hope is that the infection can be coughed out.
An especially memorable moment in the course of life occurred today. I stood watching the Hospice truck come down the lane so that it could deliver a walker, a wheel-chair, a commode, oxygen, and I don’t know what else – all just for me. I stepped around the the corner of the house and walked myself into the blooming flowers there. Alphie was outside with me, and after a moment, he came around the house too, and for the first time, growled several times, than began to bark his big outside bark. In order for him to be calmed, I had to come back and perform the introductions. This was a new reaction from him so I assume my negative ions must have been doing a radical sort of dance in there.
In a way, there will not be great changes in our lives – I have the hope that I will write letters and notes to people for thinking on me and for praying so eloquently on my behalf. What a fine, ongoing blessing is friendship. God wraps us round in layers of love and care so we can go onward and upward, ever hopeful and filled with thanksgiving for so many of the good days!