MIL Update

Sorry I know I said I was going to post some vacation pictures or have a fun post but unfortunately things aren't fun right now. My mother in law was put on hospice on Thursday. It has been rough few days. She was the best on Tuesday and was alert and tried to say a couple of words and we even had her belly laughing. Early Wednesday morning we received the call that they had to taken her back to ICU because her blood pressure dropped again. The problem is she still has sepsis (infection) even though she has been on strong IV antibiotics for over a week and the doctor also feels she has aspiration pneumonia and will continue to get this since she can no longer swallow. At this point my husband said basically she is a quadriplegic who can't speak. She can't move her legs or her arms not even a little. She can't for the most part speak at all and she can't swallow and this will not improve. It was a VERY hard decision for my husband especially since she is still alert. She can still blink for us but it is not 100% at this point. She knows we are all there. The good thing if there is one is that the hospital has an in patient hospice unit right in the hospital if a patient qualifies and by qualifying I mean has like 5-7 days to live. The doctor completely agreed which is good she doesn't have to go back to the nursing home. My husband and I said we would bring her home if we had to but I know my husband was very worried about this. The room is very nice. They have recliner chair and a sofa that is attached to the wall and pulls out into a twin bed. There are no set visiting hours and family can stay 24 hours if we want to. My husband stayed all night Thursday and we were there late last night but came home to sleep. They do have her off most of her regular medications and they stop the NG tube feedings as well as all antibiotics. They don't monitor vitals closely so if her blood pressure drops again they will just keep her comfortable. She is not in any pain and does know we are there. Her eyes lite up yesterday when she saw all the family that had flown in. I am so glad they are here. I don't know if I have mentioned before about my husband's grandmother turning 90. Well everyone agreed we should continue the party we had yesterday. My husband said his mom would have wanted us to continue. Everyone had a nice time under the circumstances. Family had flown in and grandma just started crying when she saw them. My husband's uncles is back in the hospital the same one as my MIL and so we kept the party pretty short and then all headed to the hospital. My husband's uncle is on the 1st floor and my MIL is on the second so family is just going between the floors to see them. We all don't expect things to be long with the current condition but only God knows when he is ready for her. I am at complete peace with her passing. I know she will be in heaven and will not be in pain or suffering any more. She will be with her husband who had passed when my husband was 2 and with her own father. I think that will be wonderful. My heart just breaks for my husband though. I think when he starts crying it makes me cry twice as hard. I just love him so much and hate to seem him so sad. He knows this is best for his mom but hates to lose her. Please send some prayers for husband and his grandmother. His poor grandmother has both of her children in the hospital who aren't doing well. And please send some prayers for my MIL Sandy that God will send his angels to lead her home when he is ready for her.

Linda