Joe didn't sleep very well last night. That darn breathing device was still rubbing the bridge of his nose and irritating it. Every time we get some bandage that seems to work, in a few hours the pad gets pretty soaked and it has to be changed. I'm going to call hospice and have them re-evaluate his breathing device. Maybe something isn't fitting quite right. I've had a few people who use similar devices for sleep apnea suggest a new fitting. That's next on my agenda with hospice. Stay tuned....
Our friend, Pat, helped us out today as our day shifter. She normally picks up Dan from school, which she did on top of taking care of Joe. Unfortunately, starting this evening we lose our hospice night help. Per hospice, and our insurance company, Joe is currently not suffering from any acute condition, such as breathing difficulties, anxiety or pain. So, he is considered to be in a plateau-type state, and we basically need to cover both days and nights until Joe suffers a setback. Finding day time help is difficult enough. Now, we have to cover all 24 hours. Fortunately for us, we were able to find a family friend to help us out for the overnight shift.....Pat (our transportation diva)! She will sleep here and cover the nights while others help us with days. Thank you so much!
We had several hospice folks stop by, Wilma (aide) came by to bathe Joe. We also met with Jennifer, the social worker, who put me in touch with the ALS society here locally to find out what services and information are available to us. Joe's Aunt Jean came by for a visit. Our niece Stephanie stopped by after work to see her Uncle Joe. My sister, Jenny, and her daughter Natalie, came to visit Joe and brought a few items from the store (2 packages of bagels....thank you!). Jenny also said her neighbor was successful in obtaining a custom wheelchair van that we will use this weekend to get Joe to church. We sure hope that we will be able to pull that off! I think Joe is fearful that he will not have the energy to make it through. I believe that he will! God will look out for him.
Joe's cousin's fiancé, Dennis, stopped by to visit. We gave back his Glad plastic container so he could make another batch of his jello/cool whip/fruit salad creation for Joe. We all loved it! Finally, both Jane (Joe's sister) and her husband Jeff stopped by at the end of the day to see Joe. We love all the visitors, but Joe does get tired pretty quickly. The power naps and length of them are getting noticeably longer.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people read this blog daily. I'm getting comments all the time about how everyone enjoys following Joe each day and taking part in his journey. We do love to hear about how many of you are praying for him and our family. It truly touches our hearts! Thanks to all of you so much.
I promise to add more pics tomorrow. I just didn't have the time to spend scanning and cropping them today.
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