Day Two... things are looking up

Two very nice women from Hospice came to visit all of us at Mom and Jim's house. Brian, Fred and Sonya also attended. The nurse and social worker went over many of the programs and services available from Hospice. And, many that are not. Mom seemed upset about having to decide about a DNR. We told her not to worry about it and if she didn't want a DNR she did not have to have one. Clare is the social worker and Patty is the nurse practitioner that will be seeing Mom weekly. We also arranged for her to be bathed 3x per week by a nurse's aid. I'm so happy about this so that she will be taken care of by someone who knows what to do in terms of safety and clenliness. Thank goodness!

These meetings always seem hard for me but I do the best that I can do. I can't be that dry eyed "UP" person all the time when I am dealing with this. This is the hardest thing I have ever gone through in my life. I love my Mother beyond words. My next entry will be more about her and the person she is... thanks for reading and for caring.

A New Day

Today was our first meeting with Hospice. Two very nice RNs met at Mom and Jim's house this morning at 9:00am. All of us were there... Brian, myself, Fred and Sonya (Tio and Tia to me). After learning more about all the things that Hospice has to offer... Mom made the decision to enroll. I think she was relieved. She was looking forward to the visit and is hopeful that some relief can be found for her pain.

I am hopeful that this will mean a new day for her will come where she can have some relief from her pain. She has endured pain since her whipple surgery on 1/4/07. I will never understand why Mom got this damn cancer... she did everything right. She ate well, exercised, was active and had more energy that I could ever hope to have. My hope for her is peace and comfort.

I will always have hope. But that doesn't change the fact that pancreatic cancer sucks. Period.