Life Changes

 Last Monday, September 8th, Butch woke up and needed to get to the bathroom using his slowboat to get everywhere. He said he felt worse and had very little strength in his legs. Next, he said he needed to get to his "office" where his meds were, and said his left leg was hurting. He made it that far. But then he said I don't think I can make it back to the living room. It wasn't easy, but we managed. Once seated in his chair, he said, Call 911. I did. The pain in his left leg was severe, and he said he thought he had a blood clot. To shorten things, he was right.

The options were a life flight to Des Moines, followed by a 5-hour surgery, or hospice. We asked if his life would be better after the surgery, and he said it could be, but recovery would be long and arduous. It did not seem like the best option. He was already weak, and it would have been grasping at straws, and we had too much of that already. The doctor did not hold back; he said it was going to be very painful, and he would be given anything and everything he needed to keep the pain at bay. Butch rated his pain at 12 on a scale of 1 to 10, and it stayed that way. The morphine took the edge off, but not by much. The morphine did make it so he could bear the pain till the next shot that he was getting every hour. The dosage was increased as well.

Before this, Butch had been taking 3 different blood thinners, and yet the clot developed. That was the main reason he decided on hospice, and it was he who decided. He was cognitive throughout until the morphine dosages climbed up. I stayed with him. And he passed away at 3:00 am on September 9th.

To answer many questions in one sentence, I am doing OK. It feels like a little hammer that pops in frequently to remind me that yes, it really did happen. I am doing my best to get things done that need doing, stopping short of being totally overwhelmed. I have had lots of help. Our boys and their well-chosen spouses have made it as easy as possible for me.

Yesterday, we made some decisions on a Celebration of Life.  It will be held in the Depot in Jefferson, Iowa, on September 27th. The Depot is at the head of the bike trail. I was thinking of our house, but parking is an issue. So chose the Depot instead.

The hours will be 11:00 am to 2:00 PM.  There will be lunch. These times are merely a suggestion because we are certain that people will drift to our house after that. We expect that to happen, and we are looking forward to it.