Funeral arrangements

Arrangements are planned as follows:

11:00 Family lunch . . . . . . . Garland LDS Church
12:00 Viewing . . . . . . . . . . . Garland LDS Church
1:00 Family viewing . . . . . . Garland LDS Church
1:30 Funeral . . . . . . . . . . . . .Garland LDS Church
2:30 Travel to gravesite
5:00 Graveside service . . . Cemetary
6:00 Family dinner . . . . . . Athens LDS Church

The address to the church in Garland is 2701 N. Garland Ave.

All are welcome.

...gone

Misty passed this morning at 2:27 am.

We're planning a funeral for this Saturday.

Thanks again for all your prayers and support.

Hanging on by a thread

Things are about the same, but I know those of you reading this are all just waiting to know how things are going. There's really nothing new, except that Misty's slowly fading. She's breathing, but that's about all. She mumbles from time to time, but is mostly incoherent. From time to time, Misty will open her eyes and reach out, muttering something unintelligible. We tend to believe that she's seeing and talking to the spirits of people who are close to her and her family. We know that Misty is barely hanging on to life. We think the time she has left with us can be counted in days, if not hours.

Thanks to all who have showed up to visit Misty and called to express your love to her. Thanks for the help in taking care of the needs of my family, so that I can spend these final days and hours by Misty's side. Thanks for the prayers. Thanks for everything.


----
It occurred to me that perhaps Misty has already received the greatest miracle of all. I thought of this brief passage of scripture today:

"And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?"
-- Matthew 9:2,5

Going... going...

Misty is not doing well these days. Since she's been home from the hospital, she hasn't been able to keep anything down... or more like in. See, everything Misty eats or takes in through her feeding tube leaks right back out from around her feeding tube. Her bowels aren't moving at all--the nurses say they hear no bowel sounds. In short, food isn't moving through her intestines and she's getting no nourishment and very little moisture. Unless there's a miraculous change, Misty isn't going to last long like this.

Last night (3/28), a little after 11 pm, Misty collapsed. Her muscles completely gave out and she sank to the floor. I thought for a moment that this was the end for Misty, but then she took a ragged breath and moved her head. Her nurse and I got Misty into a wheelchair and brought her into her room. I asked Misty if she could see me and she responded with very slurred words that she could see only black. Again I began to think that Misty was fading fast. I told her through my tears that I loved her and that if she needed to go, that we'd be ok. Suddenly her eyes popped open, as if to say that she wasn't going anywhere. I asked again if she could see me and she responded that I was "sparkly". We moved her from the wheelchair into the bed and got her comfortable. We thought for sure that it wouldn't be long. We brought in Paris and Cru (Paris was already awake, but Cru was sleeping). LeAndra was staying the night with one of her aunts, and calls were made to bring her home. Misty's nurse tried to take her blood pressure but her machine was unable to pickup a pulse. We sat with Misty, crying with each other and waiting. Misty's brothers and sisters all showed up as the night progressed as we all expected that these were our last goodbyes.

Around midnight, Misty seemed to stabilize. She returned to the condition she was in during the day--very tired, not speaking much, and mostly laying very still--but stable. The nurse was able to get a blood pressure reading which was low, but present. Around 3 am, many of us started dropping off to sleep.

By morning, not much had changed. In fact, now, more than 24 hours later, Misty is still about where she was. A little weaker, a little more exhausted, but still about the same. Again, without a miracle to get Misty's bowels pumping again, she can't survive long like this.

Home again

Misty got released from the hospital on Friday at around 5 pm. She's also been set up with some in-home nursing care through a hospice program. A hospital bed was delivered and set up yesterday, as well as some other things that will be helpful to Misty while she's so weak.

Misty's not feeling well enough to go to church today, so I'm staying home with her so that she isn't left alone.

Thanks again for all the prayers and everything else.

Doing better

Misty's intestines are finally cleared... sort of. After running the Drano--I mean, bowel cleanser--through Misty's system and seeing that there was still some sort of blockage, they tried the manual disimpaction. What they found was that there wasn't anything close enough to disimpact. So they next ran a gastrograffin enema, which is usually used for colorectal imaging, but in this case was used to help break up the blockage. A short while later, the broken up material passed.

At that point, her body was passing liquids without any apparent problems. But the results of a CT scan showed that something was still interfering with Misty's gastrointestinal tract--there was still a lump in her colon. So, just to be sure that everything that could be cleared out was cleared out... and (what I was afraid of) to make sure that the lump wasn't cancer that had spread to inside her intestines, they performed a sigmoidoscopy (a colonoscopy for just the lower part of the colon). What they found was... nothing. At least, nothing inside the colon. No blockage, no tumor. But... it seems that one of the tumors that's inside her abdomen is pushing on her large intestine, causing the constriction. So, the good news (and, yes, I'll take good news wherever I can) is that it won't change much for Misty, except that she's going to have to take stool softeners regularly.

Also, in the mean time, the swelling in her belly is returning--after just a few days. Because it looks like this will continue to happen (at least until her tumors are gone), Misty's doctor installed a drainage tube so that the fluid build up can be managed at home without a visit to the hospital. This evening Misty is still tender where the tube was installed, but otherwise ok.

So... to sum up this hospital visit: Pain under control? check. Bowels moving again? check. Swelling under control? check. It looks like Misty should be getting out of here tomorrow.

Feeling drained... (?)

Two gallons!! That's how much was drained off from Misty's belly. No wonder she was in pain!

So... the paracentesis went well. Last time (in January) it was very painful when the needle went in, and the doctor had to keep adjusting the needle to keep the fluid flowing, thus continuing the agony. This time it was painless. Misty was preparing herself for the torture and was surprised when the doctor told her that the stabbing was already done. The entire procedure went smoothly with no difficulties.

With all that fluid gone, and the pressure and pain with it, Misty is resting comfortably now. The next step is to get her bowels running again. The doctor has ordered an aggressive regimen of enemas and about a gallon of bowel cleanser (the stuff they prescribe for people who are preparing for a colonoscopy). Ultimately, if they can't get Misty's insides running again by tomorrow, they'll have to do a manual disimpaction--and we're hoping it doesn't come to that. Either way, we're expecting that Misty should be out of here by tomorrow night, or maybe as late as Tuesday.

Thanks again for the prayers and the visits, and everything else.