Nearing the End

Mark's disease continues to take a toll on his body. He is now in his bed all of the time. Each day brings further decline. He developed a yeast infection in his mouth ("thrush") for which we swab his tongue and mouth. Kris and I are learning new nursing skills and he had been encouraging us when we made mistakes in turning him over in bed,etc. It is going better now, thanks to help from the Hospice Aides. Today Mark is unable to talk or whisper, but we usually know by his face what his needs are. This morning he drew his hand up to his head, meaning that he had a pain in his head. The nurse told us to give him some morphine. He opens his eyes slightly, but is generally asleep. We know that he hears us . . . he can squeeze our hands. When we ask him, he usually indicates that he is confortable. We don't know how long his body can go on, but we do know that it is slowly shutting down. We continue to pray for God's mercy to give him a peaceful goodbye.