Wednesday, July 27th update

I'm just about to head over to the hospice, but I thought I'd send a quick update first.

I saw Mom on Monday for a couple of hours, but when I say 'saw', I pretty much mean 'saw'. She woke up a little when I got there, but said she'd just rather sleep, so I sat quietly with her while she slept. Yesterday, I stayed for closer to four hours, because I was hoping to be there when the doctor did her rounds, but Mom slept the entire time. She mumbled a few times, and looked restless once, but she never really woke up. I eventually left around 2, figuring that Karen would be the one to be there when the doctor came, but it turned out that Dad was the one who got to catch up with the doctor, so that was even better.

The doctor told him that this progression is normal. They upped her pain medication on Monday evening, because she'd been having some breakthrough pain, and so she probably will sleep a lot. Although it's hard to think that our conversation time with her is completely over, it might be. Dad also asked about timing, and the doctor said it was really about food now, and how willing or able Mom is to keep eating. Although they emphasize that people are all different and predictions are likely to be wrong, she also said not today, not tomorrow, but maybe two weeks, likely within the month.