I need to ask for prayer about several things going on right now. First, my parents are not doing well at all. Recently, my dad rolled over in bed & broke his collar bone. Then they thought he had cracked some ribs. On Monday they did x-rays and discovered that his ribs are not broken, but there is a "shadow" on his lung. Since he goes to the VA hospital for medical care, his CAT scan isn't scheduled until Dec. 26th! They are trying to get that moved up, but they are completely booked. In the meantime, he is in a lot of pain.
We visited there at Thanksgiving, and my mom has regressed to the point where it's like dealing with a stubborn 2 year old. She has no idea who we are and remembers nothing! My dad can't even carry on a conversation with her which means he's incredibly lonely. By the way, my mom is 85 & my dad is 87.
The pain medication my dad was on caused some very convincing (to him) hallucinations. But because of those hallucinations, I think he finally realizes that it's time for them to move to an assisted living facility. My sister & brother have one all lined up and it should be available for moving in on Monday.
But yesterday, my brother picked up the paperwork to help Daddy fill it out, and when my brother got to their house, Daddy was delirious. Don couldn't get him to help answer any questions. We are so at a loss as to what to do. At that point, if Daddy needed to go to the emergency room, he would have gone to a different (and better, I'm sure) hospital, but they would have had none of his records. And my mother cannot be left alone. She really can't be left without Daddy for very long. If Daddy can hold out until we get them moved on Monday, they will at least be somewhere close to help. My sister thinks now that he knows Granny will be taken care of, he may be giving up and shutting down.
It is so hard watching your parents become someone else. My mom has been "gone" for 6 to 8 years so it's been a slow goodbye to her. Daddy has remained strong willed even when his body started to betray him. Now I think his mind is letting go too.
On top of all of that, I've been sick all week with a cough & cold that I can't seem to shake. And I'm supposed to go today at 3:00 to interview for a job at a church. I haven't worked, except for Teddy, for over a year & a half, so I'm more than a little nervous about this. It's a lot farther away than I wanted, but it is at a church, which is what I love to do. I'm stressed over going back to work because I feel like I've got so much here at home to do. And I'm way behind in doing Teddy's accounting stuff.
So, please pray for my parents, for my siblings & me (and spouses) as we try to figure out what is best for my folks. And pray for me, that I'll get to feeling better & that I will hear God's voice in regards to the job.
I love you all.
Lisa
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
I will be praying for you as you and your family as you all deal with all of these issues.
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Be yourself!!! Don't try to fit into someone else's mold, you won't fit!!! And that just leads to utter misery!!! Live life to it's fullest in Christ's love every day!!!
I'll pray too. Please let us know how it goes on Monday with the move and all. That is very sad to have to deal with that; I can sort of relate to that with my grandmother.
Update: The move is scheduled for tomorrow, but I won't be helping. Besides this cough that I can't get rid of, I've now developed a nasty UTI and have to go to the doctor. But there will be movers to do the heavy work, and my brother & sister will be there so all should go as smoothly as possible. We were a little worried on Friday because my dad was in a lot of pain (abdominal) and spent the day at the emergency room. The new pain medication he is on for the shadow on his lung has caused severe constipation and that has resulted in a very bad tummy ache!
I had my interview Friday and have been offered the job. I prayed that God would make the choice obvious, and felt that He had. I felt completely familiar with all the duties and with the church data base (which is a big plus for me!). So tomorrow I will accept the job. I've already told him, because of my parents, that I can't start until the new year. Between now & then, I have a LOT to do!
Thanks for your prayers!
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
Please help Lisa and her family get through this trial of many afflictions. They are having to do things for their parents that I know from personal experience that are hard to do. Be with them in their decisions and help them with whatever financial difficulties that arise. I know that this is hard for them, but I know that You will see them through all of this. It is especially hard to do all of this during the holidays. Please send plenty of help. For in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
May the Lord be with you in all that you do. And congrats on the new job!
This is an email I received from my sister this morning. Stephanie is her daughter who is a nurse, and Don is my brother, Laura is his wife.
Stephanie and I stayed with Granny & Pa last night and it was, by far, the worst night of my life. I got to their house about lunchtime yesterday, and Stephanie got there about 4:00. All went well during the day. Granny sat in her chair for about 5 hours and did nothing but fiddle with the newspaper. It kept her busy and quiet, so we just let her do it. About 5:00, we ate dinner, and about 6:00, Granny decided it was bedtime and she was going to bed. We tried to explain the time to her, but she didn't care. So she went on to bed and slept like a ROCK for most of the night. About 7:30, Pa decided to go to bed because he said Granny gets upset if he's not in there. A few minutes later, Pa starts yelling frantically for us to call 911. He has these hallucinations lately that the guys next door are running a meth lab and that they come over and open the back window and has Granny hooked on meth and she is having to prostitute herself to pay for the drugs. He was frantic that they were in the backyard. I tried to explain to him that nobody was there. Stephanie pulled me aside and explained that he was having a Sundowner's episode, and not to argue with him. I have never heard of Sundowner's syndrome before. I had to look it up on the internet. We faked it and told him we called and the police were doing a drive by, and that calmed him down. He was in the bedroom having a heated conversation with NOBODY, and he was loading his gun. Stephanie distracted him and took the gun away. A couple of hours later, I heard him moaning loudly and calling for us to help him. He had fallen in their bedroom, was sweating and lightheaded and in so much pain we had a time getting him up. Stephanie decided he looked like he could be having a heart attack, so we had to call 911 for real. Paramedics looked him over , but he didn't want to go to the hospital once they checked him out. Don & Laura came to stay for about 20 minutes about the time the paramedics left and Don took the gun to his house. We gave him a prescription pain pill since that is obviously not the cause of his hallucinations, and he finally got a couple of hours sleep sitting in him recliner. Granny woke up about 4:30 because she had wet her pants. I was going to leave at 5:00AM anyway since I have to work today, so I went ahead and left at that point. Stephanie is taking a couple of days off to help them with the move today. She has been a godsend through this. If I had to deal with that alone, I would have been cowering in a corner! On no sleep, I'm a basket case today.
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
I'm going to spend the day with my parents and Teddy will come later. We will be spending the night with them and praying for a quiet, restful time! Think about us!!!
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
Talked to mom a few hours ago and I asked if anything had happened and she was basically telling me "tell you when I get home". Later I talked to her and she said that they were both in bed.
Well, it was a LONG night! Teddy & I are both glad we had the opportunity to spend some time with my folks, but it was extremely hard! But we survived.
I got absolutely no sleep, so I can't think clearly enough to write about the experience right now. Thank you for your prayers! Please continue to pray for God's peace for both Granny & Pa!
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
Just an update. Lisa, Amy and Alan went to the hospital where her dad is in the E-room. They think he has pnemonia and he isn't doing very well at all. Keep them all in your prayers, for God's peace and comfort.
It's 2:00pm on Friday and my dad is still hanging in there. He is in excruciating pain and completely delirious. When I talked to my sister a few minutes ago, the nurse was in trying to draw blood but Daddy was fighting her with every ounce of strength he has left. He is not expected to come home from this. I wish he would let go and quit fighting.
My other sister moved my mom to an Alzheimer's unit today in the same assisted living facility where my parents were supposed to move to together. At least my mom seems calm and in her own little world so she has no idea what is going on with Daddy.
Please pray for all of us.
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
Lisa - I am so sorry about your Mom and Dad. I have been keeping up with the situation on here as I didn't want to be bothering you on the phone. This is so hard to stand by and watch. Maybe if you told your Dad like I did Al. Just to go home and be with the Lord we would be fine and not to worry.. He gave up fighting and in 2 minutes or less was on his way to meet Jesus. I will always believe he was just hanging on because I kept telling him to get well so he could come home to me and when he was told it would be ok even tho he was in a coma, he knew.... You have had your hands full with both sides of the family, God will bless you and Teddy. My prayers are for you and Ted and also the rest of your family.. Maybe it is a good thing your Mom doesn't realize all that is happening.. I just wish I was able to be of help to you... I'm sure you can feel all the love we have for you and Teddy on here and the prayers going up to Heaven for you.
I spent most of the day at the hospital with my dad. He did not talk at all today, and only cried out in pain once. However, it was obvious by the way he moved around and grimaced that he is still in a lot of pain. Most of the time he stares off into space, but when he does look into my eyes, I can't tell if he's really seeing me. I took a CD player & played Alan's newest CD for him, but I don't know if he heard it. We are continuing to pray for God's peace for him.
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
Don't worry, MamaL...your dad knows that you're there. He may be in a LOT of pain, but his spirit is still there. My dad, while he was in the last hours of his life, looked at me and was able to say to me with a look that he was tired of his suffering and was ready to go. It was VERY HARD for me, but I got through it.
Just keep on doing what you're doing. He WANTS you there. His actions is from his pain and medications. It isn't really HIM that is making him act like this. He is STILL the same man that loved you when you was his baby girl.
Daddy will be moved to hospice care tomorrow. We visited for a while this afternoon and he seems to be trying to say something but is unable to talk. It is very hard to watch. Please continue to pray for him.
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
Sorry I have not been on lately to get caught up on what is going on. I will definately be praying for your situation. Please let me know if I can help!
We just got "the call". Pa passed about 10 mins ago.
You know, about that time I was listening to Amy Grant's Breath of Heaven.. It was really weird. I felt a weird sense of peace come over me and somehow knew that every thing was OK now.
Help me be strong. Help me be. Help me.
Breath of heaven, Hold me together, Be forever near me, Breath of heaven. Breath of heaven, Lighten my darkness, Pour over me your holiness, For you are holy.
I felt that same sense of peace when I lost my dad on Halloween 2001. After coming back home from the hospital, I went to the picnic table in my backyard, put a praise and worship CD in my CD player, and began to praise God for giving me the best dad in the world to me. I then sensed God's presence. He seemed to be whispering to my soul, "It's okay...He's with ME...He won't feel any pain...anymore..."
I really needed to "hear" that at that time.
Now my dad and your grandpa are BOTH within His holy presence...
Telling each other what great kids and grandkids they have!
In a few hours, we will bury my father. Last night was the visitation and it was the longest 2 hours of my life! But we heard time and again what a wonderful man my father was. I know we were all touched be the number of people who came to pay their respects, then took the time to tell us how my father impacted their lives.
The most interesting person to come was the lady that has been delivering his mail for 20 years. She had come to the door the other day when she brought the mail, and rang the doorbell. My brother was there so he told her about Daddy passing. The mail lady burst into tears & almost fainted! Don brought her in and gave her some water and they visited for a while. Last night, I noticed a woman in a postal uniform kind of wandering around in the hall. I asked her if she were looking for Mr. Langford. She was. She spent quite a while at the casket and shed a lot of tears. It was a classic example of the way my dad touched people's hearts.
I'm going to miss him greatly, but find joy in the fact that he's in a place with no pain or sorrow. And I will see him again someday!
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Grace is the acceptance of that which is rejected. ~Paul Tillich
MAMA LISA My prayers are with You and your family at this time of great loss. I hope you find peace & strength in the fact that your Daddy is no longer suffering, continue to hold onto that in the hard times ahead.
Sorry for your losses! I love you all! I pray you guys remain strong, and God wraps his arms around you, and gives you a huge hug!
Know he is in the arms of the Lord. :) And, life is better there.
With love, Darrel
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That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
