The End

While I have a few minutes in all the hubbub, I want to share that Curt passed away last night. Curt's breathing continued to be heavy yesterday. I called Hospice a couple times and gave him some Lorazepam about 8:30 and midnight last night. I slept on a cot next to sofa and woke up about 1:30 with him flaying around (and partly on my cot) and having difficulty breathing. I called the Hospice nurse on duty (Chrissy), and she came over after 2 AM. She gave him morphine to help with the breathing. This made him flay some more, so she gave him more Lorazepam too. That did not work either, so she gave him some Valium. That seemed to do the job. She was here over 1 1/2 hours and talked about how bad this cancer is. It grows quickly and was impinging on his air supply. She thought the Valium should last about 4 hours and told us to get some sleep. I was going to get a hospital bed and caregiver today and see about sedating him. I did go back to sleep listening to his snoring, but Sue thought it got quiet around 5 AM. Jack and Sue woke me about 7:30 and said they thought Curt had passed away. They called Hospice and Linda was here right away. She removed all Hospice things and made important phone calls. The Huffords and Reistads are here and helping out. We caught Beth before she got on the airplane here. Angie packed and is driving down now. Jef is going to get Beth and bring the girls down later. We have lots of things to take care of now.
Curt was strong until the end. He walked with his walker to bathroom at 9:30 last night. On Tuesday night he played a couple rounds of Mexican Train Dominoes (with lots of help) with Gordon and me. I don't think he was in pain. He did not ask for any pain medicine, but did have the patch. Chrissy said she didn't see any furrows in his brow to indicate pain. He is finally at peace now. We hope to decide on time for a memorial service by this evening. I want to talk to the girls. I am thinking of Friday or Saturday next week (March 26 or 27).