May 24, 2009

It's Sunday, May 24, 2009.  Normally on Sundays, I'd be leaving Jason's mid afternoon to go spend time with my family, but on this Sunday, I'm staying put.  Jason's best friend Jerrod is coming by later with his mother.  And, there's a new issue we're dealing with.  Nose-bleeds.

When Jason's platelet level gets low, he starts getting nose-bleeds.  Shortly after we woke up and moved into the living room they started to come.  We'd get it to stop bleeding for a few minutes, and then out of nowhere it would start again.  I put a call into our favorite nurse at the hospital - someone we'd become very close to - and asked if we needed could come in and get him an infusion of platelets.  She told me that it really wouldn't do much good and to just keep him home and take care of him as best we could.  She was also a little surprised that hospice wasn't there to help us.

I put a call into the hospice representative and discovered that no one really knew what was going on with Jason's case.  It was the first of many screw-ups during our journey through hospice.  Either way, we were there at home, which is what Jason wanted, and we were doing the best we could.  Jerrod and his mother arrived after lunch, and Jason tried his best to stay a part of the conversation.  But more often than before, he was beginning to space out.  He would join the conversation, and then midway through a sentence, he'd stop and glass over.  It was as if he had fallen asleep with his eyes open.

We got through the visit with Jerrod & his mother, and Jason was visibly tired.  He went to lay down in bed, and his mom went in to be with him.  Shortly after Jerrod left, a few friends of mine from work showed up and surprised the hell out of me.  They pulled up with a car full of food.  Literally - there was enough food in there to feed an army.  We were all completely blown away by my co-workers generosity.  It was an incredible sight...one that brought me to tears.

The rest of the day was spent dealing with a few more nose-bleeds, but after the visit by the "Food Fairies" it was as if we were all re-energized to keep on fighting.  There was a new air of hope in the house, but unfortunately, it didn't last long.

Four Days Left