The Twilight Zone

Kirby here...

The oncology wing of Memorial Hospital Central is a very special place.  The staff and surroundings are filled with love and nurture and we became very fond of it.  One individual in particular was named John.  He's a kind, strong, no-nonsense nurse practitioner who was extremely helpful to us all and made his affections for our family and especially Al very clear. He took GREAT care of Al!

Al says goodbye to John, a phenomenal nurse practitioner.

It was sad to say goodbye to the nurses and techs there.  But since Al's situation is no longer considered acute, we needed to move him to a hospice facility which we did around 6pm tonight.  He and Lana got another ambulance ride to the hospice a few miles away.

And now, you enter an elevator.  The doors open.  You step out of the elevator and you are no longer enjoying life in 2013.  You are frozen in some sort of time warp sometime around 1979 and floating down a hall smelling sterile and deathly with cries of forgotten souls behind curtains in each room, gaudy red sitting chairs are in the corner and drab wooden end tables with vases with silk flowers and strange paintings on the wall. At the end of the hall is a spooky old piano that you half expect to begin playing by itself...

You have just entered... The Twilight Zone.

At least that's how it felt to us! 

But Al is stable on a continuous feed of pain medicine and oxygen and was feeling quite himself once we got settled into his little room.  After some intense prayer proclaiming life and joy and peace over the space in that room, we ordered hamburgers and french fries and sodas and enjoyed some dinner while watching the start of the Broncos game.  Al looked over at me, reached out his hand for mine and when I grabbed his, he looked at me and said, "I love hanging out with you."  Love it!

He doesn't have much appetite, but he's able to use the bathroom on his own and his pain is taken care of with the meds.  We immediately sense that we want to move him home as soon as possible.  So we will see how things go tonight and make some decisions tomorrow.  (Lana is sleeping in his room on a nice hide-a-bed.)

All of this time with him has felt like bonus blessing, but we will continue to pray toward healing and recovery.  For now our hearts are resting easy knowing that he is not hurting or uncomfortable and it looks promising that all of us will get a good night's rest.

Thank you for praying with us for our beloved Poppy, Al my Pal!