An Update

Many of you have asked either in real life or online how my mom is doing. Although I sent out an update via email to our prayer chain, I realize some of you may not be included in that, so I wanted to let you all know how she's doing.

About a month ago at her Hospice meeting, the nurse told her that the doctor was concerned with the rate the disease was progressing. She is definitely getting worse. She is fatigued and weak, her cough is worse, she finds it difficult to breathe and her resting heart rate is high due to the pain she is in. According to the Hospice nurse, all these things are normal as the disease progresses and the pain medication she is on adds to her feeling tired and confused. At her last visit (last Wednesday), my mom asked the nurse when she thought my mom would be completely bedridden. Although the nurse cannot give a perfect estimate, she basically said that for now my mom needs to find a fine balance between getting out of the house (which is very important for her sanity, as I'm sure all of us can relate) and resting; if it was up to the nurse, she said, she'd like to see her resting more. She said that right now my mom can muster up enough energy to force herself to do something, and she doesn't want to try to stop her from doing that, because she wants her to enjoy things now, but soon she will find she cannot even muster enough energy to forcer herself to do these things. So, for now, my mom might get out 2-3 times a week for a very brief amount of time before she needs to go back home to rest. The resting is definitely becoming a greater part of her day. She is now to the point where she also feels that she isn't up for much company, which is by no means personal against anyone; it is simply, as the Hospice material says, a normal part of the dying process. There may even come a time soon when she won't want to see her immediate family for visits. She's taking it one day at a time.

Our prayer requests are as follows:
~Protection from spiritual opposition for her and my family
~That her transition to Jesus' arms would be as painless as possible
~That God would give her peace about the unknown (pain, the way the disease will progress) and will hold her firmly in His arms, making His peace overwhelmingly real to her
~That He would bless the time we have left with her
~That God would comfort our family during this time

Thank you for caring and for following along on this journey with our family. It means the world to us, and we greatly appreciate your prayers.