The Hard Part

Monday, December 28, 2009

There is very little change to report since my last update yesterday. But that is telling in itself. Since the fever subsided it has not returned. But neither has Roy and, frankly, we don't expect him to. It is difficult to describe the state he is now in. Not quite asleep, not quite awake. Not totally unconscious but certainly not relating to his surroundings if he is aware of them at all. As the hours pass, however, he seems to slip little by little away from the present.

My mom has said a number of times that all that is left is the hard part. Hard for us more than him really. If you ask me we are doing a pretty good job of keeping him comfortable. His lungs are getting less efficient at processing the oxygen, however, and we can hear the fluid starting to build up in them. Comfortable is relative here.

It seems clear that we are witnessing his final hours. There is no way to know how many or few they are. But the signs say that hours are the appropriate unit of measure.