Wednesday 1 January 2014

Not-so-happy new year update

Happy new year, my friends! I hope you all celebrated last night in style!

We had a very subdued evening as unfortunately my dear Hubby has taken a turn for the worse. Starting yesterday morning his breathing had become very laboured and quite rattly and we had to increase his morphine doses to try and calm his breathing down. This worked during the day but overnight the problem came back so today we consulted one of the hospice nurses.

Once the nurse had checked Hubby over his conclusion was that his body was starting to shut down and that continuing with the IV nutrition was overloading Hubby's body with more fluid than it could process, which in turn was putting added pressure on his heart and contributing to the breathing problems.

The solution is to stop the IV nutrition immediately, but this will not hasten Hubby's death as he is no longer absorbing any of the nutrients and should actually make him more comfortable in the last leg of his journey.

We have also increased his morphine dose again which should help his breathing significantly, but will likely also make him sleep a lot more. I cant help but feel that this is a good thing as Hubby has become noticeably disorientated and confused over the last couple of days.

We have been told that these, among others, are signs that we are nearing the end and we can expect anything from a couple of days up to a couple of weeks.

It is a brutal way to start the year, but I take some comfort knowing that my beloved will soon be at peace.

In light of this, we will have to stop any future visits and cancel any that have been planned for the next few days, but if you have any words or messages you would like to pass on please text/message/email and I will be sure to pass them on for as long as I can.

Thank you again for all the messages of love and support that have continued to flood in over the last few days - I love hearing about your memories of my wonderful husband and they really do help to keep me strong.

As always, I will keep you posted on any changes. x

8 comments:

  1. My darlings, you've been so brave. I may be miles away but I'm with you every step of the way and send you my love, wish you peace, and in time we'll have joy and jellybabies again, Red xxxx

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  2. I really dont know what to say, so sad but at least he will be pain free and at peace , you are both constantly in my thoughts and I have nothing but huge admiration for your strength and attitude Andrea X

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  3. Hello, I'm Hector Hernandez, a former colleague of Peter's until 2010 when I left NSC. I became rather somber earlier today upon hearing the news about Peter's present condition. Although I've never met you, my heart and love go out to you, his wife, and all of Peter's family. I remember Peter's candid attitude and awesome sense of humor, and especially his strong Scottish brogue. He will be remembered. God Bless you Peter. God Bless Peter's family and friends.

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  4. I am shocked and sad to hear about Peter. Like Hector I used to work with Peter at National/TI until my retirement two years ago. I think higher of him as our great designer. We tended to leave him to his work. His time was too valuable to be bothered with small stuffs . At the same time I kept wishing that some days I get to know him better. Thanks for sharing the difficult times Peter and you and the rest of the families are going through. I lost my mom to colon cancer when she was 56. I appreciate the gift of life no matter how long. I will say a pray for Peter to find inner peace and for you to have the courage and strength to get through these difficult days.
    Sa-ad Kongboon

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  5. Andrea, I am so sad with you. Although I cannot pretend to know the depth of your loss, I share a "gone too soon!" feeling. When I worked at NSC, I greatly admired Peter and relied on his skills in my work with the MIPI Alliance. After spending evenings in pubs and fine drinking establishments all over the earth with Peter, I admired him for more than his engineering skills. I'm sure you remember his travels with that group, and there are many of us sharing condolences via email with each other now. He made a huge positive impression within that group - how could he not? I would love to share that thread and some photos with you if you send me an email with your address. (Does mine get posted to you via this blog? If not, let me know here or linkedin) Jim Schuessler (James Schuessler on LinkedIn)

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