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Thanksgiving ...

Trees with bright orange leaves.
The fact that I went to the gym rather than lazily sitting on my couch.
Talking with on of my old RAs about major life decisions.

No updates today, but thank you so much for your prayers. They are greatly appreciated!

Thankful ...

I saw a challenge on a friend's facebook about having a status each day that was something you are thankful for, so I decided to try to blog each day until Thanksgiving about something I'm thankful for.

Today I'm thankful for reminders from God's Word about what it means to be faithful and how wonderful a life well-lived is before the Lord. I'm also thankful for cupcakes and good Italian food.

Update: Mom is heading home for a few days to take care of some things at the vet clinic. It's a good time for her to do that because the hotel doesn't have any rooms this weekend due to pheasant season. The decision has been made that Grampa will be free to eat whatever he wants in pudding form or not eat what he wants. A feeding tube isn't really a viable option as his swallowing will never improve and then they would be faced with the decision of when to remove the feeding tube. He will be moving to the nursing home either tomorrow or Thursday. He's still mentally alert, so this is what he and Gramma chose - not the nursing home (Medicare chose that), but the eating.

Praying ...
Talked with my mom yesterday morning. The decision still has not been made as it is between eating and then asperating and having pneumonia that they can't rid of and terrible coughing, or no food or liquids leading to dehydration. My mom and her siblings have decided to let Grampa and Gramma decide as he is still mentally alert. I have to be honest about how heart-breaking this is for me. No option seems ideal, and he is scared as he faces this unknown and tries to make a decision without really knowing what the consequences will be. Please pray for peace and comfort for both my grampa and gramma as they walk through these difficult and uncertain next few days/weeks.

Not what I wanted to hear ...

I talked with my mom yesterday as I was driving to Iowa with my RA small group. Today she, my aunt, and my uncle will decide the next step of treatment for my grampa. He is not able to eat due to the aspiration and coughing, so they will most likely decide to put him on comfort care (no food or liquids) or just IVs. It was hard to hear that he told a visitor that he had had bad news yesterday, and he also told my gramma that he was sad they wouldn't make it to 68 years, which would have been Dec. 26. All of us just want his suffering to be as minimal as possible. Once they make a decision, I'll let you know. I'm also contemplating not going back to Illinois with my girls on Sunday but heading on to Kansas, so I'll decide tomorrow what will happen next.

Interesting ...

I don't have much to say other than the fact that these are interesting days in my life. Don't worry. This brief and ridiculous drama will be over soon, and my life will go back to its ordinary rhythm.

For those of you who have been praying for Grampa, he is back in the hospital with pneumonia. Mom drove down this weekend to be he and Gramma. It's uncertain at this point how long he'll be there. The doctor basically said that it's just a matter of time. He will keep cycling through with pneumonia until his body gives out. Since he doesn't have as much motivation knowing that he'll return to the nursing home rather than the assisted living with Gramma, which has been difficult for both them after more than 65 years together, we aren't sure how much of a recovery he'll make.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, especially for my mom, aunt, and uncle as they are all traveling between their homes and where my grandparents live. They are all struggling to cope with this new reality.

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