Father in law...Final Day

FIL has passed away. He had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer before the Durga Puja holidays and we then pursued another opinion before we made our final decision. Fast forward to yesterday (Wednesday)...SIL was called over to the hospital at 730am because he had some respiratory distress, so they had put him on some oxygen and he had stabilized.

Around 530pm the hospital had again called and said that he had again deteriorated and that we should come over. DH rushed over, but by the time he had made it over FIL had already passed away. We spent the next 6 hours getting his body released before we headed to the crematorium for the final good-byes.

We had many good friends who had come over to help us without us asking and we are forever grateful for that. It is very sad that we had to say good-bye, but at least he is no longer suffering. We are now watching over MIL and making sure that she is okay and going day by day.

Father in Law...Day 2

So, Sunday night into Monday morning I took my shift watching FIL until 6am again. The poor guy was so restless...he kept fidgeting and calling out for us to help him. However, he wasn't responsive and if we spoke to him he didn't understand. We managed to keep him at home despite great problems. He was screaming at 5am at the top of his lungs because we wouldn't let him lay down since we were cleaning his bed.

Now he was also trying to talk to us, but he was making no sense and the sentences he was saying were garbled. We waited until 12pm on Monday and we took him to the nearest hospital and had him admitted. I went to see him on Tuesday evening and he was sleeping peacefully and we headed home.

330am Ramblings

I'm sitting here taking my shift with FIL so that SIL and MIL can sleep. It's nearly 330am and we feel that we can't leave him alone after he fell yesterday morning while trying to go to the bathroom. I'm filled with plenty of emotion as I sit here keeping an eye on him from the front table. I know that one day soon when I look down at his room it will be empty, but sooner than I ever expected. It's a surreal thing to be watching someone that you loved going down this path.

The worst part is that we can't do anything for him...all we can do is take care of him the best that we can. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I know that we will manage until we decide what will be the best for him overall.

Days with my Father in Law - Part 1

The last few months have been a bit chaotic and we've not shared the news with everyone, but my FIL only has a short time left. I'm not going to go into the diagnosis, but the deterioration is scary and happening fast. I'm hoping that I can remember the good days as he has them, which are few and far in between these days, so that's why I'm blogging about them.

On my birthday, November 12th, everyone had forgotten, which was expected in between all of the tests and whatnot that FIL was undergoing. DH had told my MIL it was my birthday and so she had called me up and wished me. FIL found out it was my birthday and decided he was going to give me his traditional "pats" on the head as wishes, but this time it was harder than normal. Anyways, that's something I want to remember.

Let's fast forward to today, when it took me, my SIL and DH to get FIL to take his medications and have some biscuits and tea. He had fallen early in the morning while trying to get up to go to the bathroom and woke up with bruises. He had complained that his head was hurting so they took him to the ER and it turns out he only has a mild hematoma, so nothing to worry about.

Later in the evening I was making tea for everyone and I asked FIL if he wanted some as he was exhausted. He said yes, so I made it for him and when it was cooled off a bit I brought it in the room. SIL was helping him up and she was like, ok, no more, tea isn't that important. My FIL said "no, cha is important!", so he got up and drank half of his tea.

We (MIL, SIL, DH and I) were talking in front of their room and we burst out laughing. From his room FIL asked me why I was laughing and I replied back to him, what am I not supposed to laugh today? He then said, no! of course you can laugh. This elicited another round of laughter from all of us.