Glio - A day of Oncology, Catheters, Vomiting and Tears-Then Peace !

Today was a gorgeous bright sunny day. D woke up in a wonderful happy frame of mind. He was excited that his sister Carol was coming to see him and that I was going to fix him his favorite for breakfast - aka "corn". Raised the blinds, straightened the room, prayed to GOD above thanking HIM for the blessings of the night and the beauty of the day. We made it to the bathroom with a little help from a great son-in-law and life was getting ready to be GOOD !!!!

Drum roll please ....... GLIO spits her vile ugly poison out of his body faster than you can say "NO !" The vomiting is profuse, fast and furious. It comes on sudden, without warning and without care for the weakened condition of my already fragile husband. He can barely raise his head to turn to spit the nastiness out. The smell makes you think of that movie the Slime Monster and if that thing had a smell well I would swear this is what is would smell like. I always hated that movie as a kid and now I know why.

D looks at me with this unbelievable look of sadness and question in his eyes and I say to him "Yes, you are dying, not right at this moment, but you are dying sometime soon. We have talked about it, I always promised you I will not let you suffer or hurt. You will not have to be in pain, I will make this stop." He responds weakly "you promise?" I say "yes" with tears streaming down my face.

So begins our beautiful sunny day instead of breakfast in bed, it is a mad rush to gather things together, get the necessary help to load him up and travel back to the Oncology Clinic for treatment. It wasn't corn on a tray, it was IV fluids from a bag. It was over 6 hours of waiting, a consult with the doctor, a catheter, lots of noise which irritated D, more waiting and difficult decisions finalized.

Today D and I put in place the care plan we have discussed many many times over the past 3 months. Today we opted to discontinue treatment and begin Hospice. This is a decision not entered into lightly, but rather with much prayerful consideration, we chose to begin another part of journey with GOD,our family and friends.

This choice is not a way a reflection of a lack of faith or a failure to believe that treatment is viable, it is a reality of treatment and the foundation of our faith. Faith is the belief in what you can not see. We believe that if traditional medicine can not heal D, GOD will always heal him. It may not be while he resides in his earthly body, but he will be healed. GOD's hands are everywhere through out this process.

D has always believed that GOD's will is the most important thing. He told Daniel and I once that if it was GOD's will that he be healed by going to Heaven than as hard as it was for him to leave me and his family, we still had to realize that GOD had healed him. Maybe it just wasn't in the way we wanted it to be.

Tonight, Jill told Ian that his Papaw was dying and he cried and cried. He held her and then he held me. His little 8 year old heart broken again, but Jill told him there is one bright spot in this - "when your Papaw gets to Heaven, your Uncle Bo is going to be standing there waiting to meet him with a big smile on his face." Ian's face brightened and with a smile on his face he said "just think when I die, they will both be there to meet me when I get to Heaven too!"

HOW PERFECT IS GOD'S PLAN !! What a comfort HE gives to all of us in the hours of our greatest need.

D is home in bed resting, unaware of the turmoil, sadness and tragedy going on around him. That is the way his life shall be till the Roll is Called Up Yonder -