The Final Watch

I spent all day and into the evening at the hospital with my Mother.  I talked to all the doctors involved with her care and all the associated Nurses and technicians.  My Mother has been wearing a breathing mask but still labored along at a respiratory rate of 45-50.  The decision was made to intubate Mother and put here on a breathing machine.  This brought her respiratory rate down to 24 which is still high but not nearly so high as the 45-50 she was at for the last couple of days.  The tube and breathing machine do the work for her so she can relax and not be working so hard at breathing.  The very real downside to this, in the words of Dr Singh, "she may not survive this".  Her other conditions play a part in this also.  Her Kidney function is at 20%, dialysis would start at 15% and although improved from when she came to this hospital visit, it is not quite enough to sustain long term hope for recovery.  They have also not been able to solve the dilemma of the fluid gathering on her longs.  Dr Diaz-Calderone said this may be due to an infection acquired since she came to the hospital.  He is treating here with a variety of antibiotics to see if she will respond to them.  

In order to intubate her and allow her to rest easier she is being administered Fentenyl which is 100 times more powerful than Morphine.  She is resting a lot more comfortably but she is pretty much out of it and  unable to communicate very much at all.  All the doctors agree that she "may not survive" this course of treatment.  We three sons will have to make the decision jointly whether or not to remove her from the ventilator and watch her expire.  The doctors also say she may surprise us all and recover from this although the likelihood of this result has a very low percentage chance of happening.  In one of her more lucid moments, Mother told me she was not going to die, however, that may just be bravado on her part, but one can always hope.  

My brothers and I all feel that this indeed is the Final Watch on the last days of her life here on earth.  I feel relieved to know that here at the end, Mother and I have made our peace with each other, although I do not wish her to 'rush off' to the afterlife either.  As you can imagine, this is a very emotionally challenging time for all of us.  As such, I would ask that you guys out there remember her to whatever higher power you believe in for her recovery or a peaceful passage to the afterlife.  Again, I will keep you posted as events transpire over the next couple of days. 

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Your play list for today features a number of Composers of Italian Renaissance Music for the Viola da Gamba.  Featured Composers are Guami, Ruffo, Dilasso, Waellaert, Agricola, Bassono, Moneverdi and Conforti.  Your performance today is by  La Gamba Freiburg featuring Ekkehard Weber on Viola da Gamba.  The painting in the video is 'The Court of August the Younger, Duke of Braunschweig" by Albert Freyse.   

For Hump Day today we have this fabulous collection of hugely Humpable Hunks lounging about all set to fuel your fantasies and help you over the work week hump and headed for the weekend.  Thank you for choosing to spend part of your day with me here at Nichevo.  See you again tomorrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!