Today a nurse from the community home nursing team came to the house to do all the necessary paperwork to get Jenny into 'the loop' for the home visits. It was good to learn about all the services available to us. A nurse will come next Monday to change the dressing on the exit site of the catheter, and make sure all is well.
They will drain her whenever she needs it, so there will be no more times where she is so uncomfortable from the buildup of fluid.
This also puts us in the loop for hospice care - not necessarily to go there, and we are hoping that she will not - but for the nursing people to come if we need them. The home nursing team works from 8 AM to 11 PM 7 days a week, and if we need help in the night, we call the hospice team. So, we are covered 24/7. It is really good to know that that supprt is there.
The nurse was here for just over an hour and Jenny was absolutely thrashed afterward. In fact, she is back in bed again, and has been for the best part of an hour. She will get up for awhile and wach TV before going to bed for the night likely around 10 or 10:30.
Jenny's spirits are quite good. She is accepting of what is happening, and feels at peace. We have talks around all of it - the emotional, the spiritual, and the logistical. And of course, she is taking a hand in planning the celebration of life!
We cannot overstate what the Simonton Cancer Center and our ongoing coaching/counseling with Erin Sommerville, one of its facilitators, has done for us (we meet weekly on Skype on video, and lately it has been more frequently). We definitely came back from there in October changed people.
Erin gives us such pearls of wisdom in every session with her, and has taught us to be in the present, about appreciating THIS moment and all that we have NOW. She has offered us a perspective that has given us such peace and calm, it is hard to explain. But one thing is for sure. We know that we will get through this thing with our spirits strong and healthy. The sadness is profound, but we are grounded in love and the connection of our spirits. We feel the love from our many many friends and family, and we want you to know that that means such a huge amount to us.
