updates

A few quick updates:

1. We said good-bye to our relatives sometime after noon. It was good to see them, even for a brief while.

2. We've made explicit our request for DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). Although we have an Advance Medical Directive for Mom, it's not quite the same as the DNR request, which applies specifically to the CPR and CPR-related context, i.e., the attempt to restart Mom's heart should it fail. At the moment, heart failure isn't an issue, but as the cancer advances (and if Mom's infection worsens), it might become one.

3. Dad's looking into hospice and medical care at places like Woodbine in Alexandria, and the facilities at the National Naval Medical Center. I'm a bit iffy on military care, having seen the inconsistency with which Dad's been treated over the years.

4. A service called the Physician's Transport Service can, for a fee, take Mom down to Virginia when we need them to-- ventilator and all, if necessary. Dad thinks the fee canbe covered by one form or another of his various insurance policies.

5. In case I haven't made it obvious, we have officially stopped looking for further treatment for Mom's cancer. At this point, Mom is too far gone. Dr. Boockvar gave her three months, so now it's really a matter of keeping her comfortable and allowing the cancer to finish the job it cruelly started months ago. We tried talking with Duke University and M.D. Anderson, but Dr. Friedman at Duke said it would be inhumane to oblige Mom to travel down to Duke for testing and treatment, given the state she's in. The same would apply for M.D. Anderson.

6. Sean's been back in the DC area since 11AM or so. He's been given a list of "to-do"s by me and Dad, all house- and paperwork-related. Sean's got his own list of tasks to perform as well. I know it can't be easy for him to be cut off from his income like this, especially with bills piling up. Anyway, we'll see him again tomorrow.

And that's where we are.


UPDATE, 10:15PM: I neglected to mention that a PICC team came over in the afternoon and installed a PICC line in Mom's right arm. The nurses also removed an IV line from one of Mom's ankles, but left the other line in.

Unlike the previous times that Mom had had PICC lines installed, we're pretty sure that Mom will never again be awake or aware enough to try pulling this new line out.


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