Ok, sorry I haven't been back in a while. It's been a crazy few weeks. So, my Dad was going for his final treatment at MD Anderson, but got to coughing and couldn't stop. They admitted him into the hospital and found that he had pneumonia. My step-mom called that Saturday saying that things were not looking good. She was very scared. They were mentioning intibating him. I mentioned that this might be against his Living Will/DNR. After talking with the doctors, my Dad told them that he didn't want to be intibated (I hate to say it, but I think this was the right decision.)

So, I called USAirways and found that I had accumulated just enough frequent flyer points that my ticket from Charlotte, NC to Houston, TX was only $120 (compared to $800 minimum.) My trip went very well and I arrived at MD Anderson that night. While my Dad was in bad shape, over the next couple of days, he got a little better to where they released him from the hospital on Wednesday. However, at this point, we found that the treatments had not helped, and he was being referred to hospice.

So, he was released on Wednesday and that Friday, we headed back to Charlotte, NC. My parents have lived in a motor-coach for 15 years. So, we had everything we needed; a feeding pump, an oxygen machine, etc. We made it back to Charlotte, NC on that Sunday and met with Hospice the next day.

So, if you're to the point where your loved one will be referred to hospice in the near future, I would highly recommend "Final Journeys." I saw this book on one of the posts on this website. A tough read, but very informative. I don't know that you can ever be ready for a loved one to pass, but I feel that I'm closer than I was. Additionally, I feel that the information that I received helped me be an advocate for the hospice process.

For now, my Dad is doing ok. He's in a weird stage; he's feeling better, yet it's a terminal diagnosis. He doesn't really feel like doing anything (ie. reading, working on the computer, etc.), so he's kind of sitting around waiting on something to happen, yet nothing is happening. He's having good days and bad. It's all part of the process, I guess.

I'll try to post more later as things progress. My hope is that by reading this someone may get something out of it.