Monday night our mother was struggling to breathe. Her heart rate was erratic, often shockingly high. She looked in distress and almost out of strength. We could not abide her suffering.
After discussing the scenario all day with doctors and nurses, Bill and I asked them to remove her breathing tube, fulfilling her expressed wish for a peaceful, unassisted end. Then we sat with her and waited.
Now, four hours later at 3 AM, her body is relaxed and she is breathing on her own -- not easy breaths, but not frantic either. Her heart is beating fast but steady. The stress we saw in her earlier is gone. Although this reprieve may only be temporary, we are glad to have our mother with us still.
-tom
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1 comment:
Tom,
I am sorry. Please know that Magali and I are thinking of you and your family and wishing we could be there to comfort you.
Ernie
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