So here we are, four days after deciding to transition to hospice care. Melissa and Matt have been at the house these four days, and Dennis and Sharon for most of the time. In addition we've had visits from everybody in our bridge group surrogate family, as well as from neighbors (Ken from next door on his regular Thursday morning visit, and Kristin from across the street to check in, having seen the hospice ambulance arrive at the house on Wednesday) and other friends.
Wednesday was a full day, getting checked out of the observation unit, delivered back home, and set up with the hospital bed and other supplies and the hospice nurse who will be on our "team." Thursday brought Dennis and Sharon's first day of visiting, as well as the recently-regular visits from Ken and Olivia. We also had a visit from our hospice social worker, who set up a nursing-assistant personal-care visit for Friday. Friday, after the hospice visit Olivia came back to teach Melissa (and Sharon ;->) how she makes her healing chicken-matzo ball soup—a great experience in so many facets that I can't begin to explore them here. Besides that, John and Liz came, and had a bowl of chicken soup and a nice visit with Steve.
Friday night, I decided to take over the night-time monitor from Matt, to test whether I would be able to handle on my own night-time calls from Steve (since his hospital bed is on a different level of the house from any of the bedrooms). We had begun to realize that Matt needs to get back to his wife and baby pretty soon (to return when he can, probably in a couple of weeks), and Melissa also will be heading back home at least briefly to pick up loose ends before coming back to spend more time here. From that experiment I learned that I'm not really up to doing this alone. I emailed to Nora and Margie (my sisters) who blessedly and quickly agreed to come and stay with me while Melissa and Matt are away taking care of their other responsibilities.
Today we had visits from Kristin (offering support from her own household and from the neighborhood at large) and from Clair and Grace. Steve rested a lot but also very much enjoyed the two visits. Dennis and Sharon spent the morning and early afternoon with us before heading home—a very difficult good-bye. Tomorrow, Melissa will drive Matt to the airport for his flight back home. In the afternoon we expect a visit from Melissa's school friend Shoma and the arrival of Margie to begin my sisters' support regime. Monday, Melissa will leave us for a couple of days while Nora and Margie settle in to help me.
I think it must be apparent to the most casual reader that we have a phenomenal support network and so much to be grateful for. Our hospice social worker suggested that Steve may actually have several additional weeks of reasonably high-quality time left, and we are aiming to make the most of them. Thanks again to all of you for your ongoing interest and support.
