Sorry for the lack of updates. Last I posted it was Spring Break. I was able to get the stent removed that was put in during gallbladder surgery to catch any gall stones that might have been loose. That went great and I am happy to report that now 4 months later my acid reflux is gone as well. I feel so good. So, all of that is behind me hopefully.
Josh graduated from High School. The pictures are him and then him and his friend Alexis. It is so hard to believe. I sound like my parents, but he grew up so fast and it seems like just yesterday when he was born. Many of you that read this blog celebrated his first birthday with me at my website The Ray Family Website. I loved those years when we did the country websites and that seems like an eternity ago too. I miss it. My last day of school was a week later. I went to visit my mom and dad at their house and my dad was very sleepy and was bent over in his chair. I have a good friend that is an EMT and he was worried my dad might have had an infected sore that could have gone septic. We called the ambulance and it was a very long day/night...but he was put into the hospital and put on anti-biotics. The next day the doctors told us he would need multiple surgeries to heal this sore and he might end up on a ventilator and feeding tubes. Now if you have forgotten, my dad has advanced alzheimer's. We decided to not do the surgeries. It was not an easy decision to make. We thought that he would not understand the pain of the surgeries or he might try to take out the feeding tube, the list goes on and on. He is under hospice care now and has been in a nursing home for several weeks. He is comfortable in no pain. Some days he will wake up and talk to us, but he sleeps a lot with the medication he is on. I posted this picture of us on facebook. It was taken when I graduated college probably 25 years ago or so. I was around 22 years old and he was around 51 years old. I wish he was as healthy as he was then. It makes me sad to see him in the nursing home. I get to feed him every day though. The nurses say he eats best for me. Not sure of that is true or not,but I am happy to do it. The hospital had given us 2 weeks for him to live and the nursing home doctor said a month, so we will see what God decides. Please pray for all of us. This has not been easy for anyone. I am just so very happy I got one more Father's Day with him. I love my daddy! I visit him everyday, so it has been crazy, but since it is summer, I will try to keep you all posted. He is holding is own for now.
Monday we went to visit my dad and he was the same as every other day. He ate and he rested. He seemed comfortable. The next morning I got a call from my friend Tommy that had gone to visit and he asked how long it was going to take me to get there, that my dad was having trouble breathing. I went and got Josh up and we went to the nursing home. It takes 30 minutes to get to the nursing home. We made it though. I told my daddy I loved him and that Josh and I were there. I held his hand and I told him we were all ok. He had a hard time breathing and started the death rattle around noon. He passed away at 1:50PM on Tuesday June 20th. The rest of the day went very fast and is a blur. I could not sleep very well that night and got up really early the next morning. My mom is not dealing very well with any of this. Josh and I are doing a lot of the memorial planning along with my friend Tommy. Tommy and I were raised together, so we are like brother and sister. He went in last week and talked to my dad alone and told him he would look after my mom and me. He is just a precious friend. So, it is just a really hard time right now. I feel like I have nothing positive to write, so I have been kind of quiet on facebook. I get home super late anyway. So, the memorial is going to be July 1st at 10AM. I want it to be so nice and perfect just like my dad. I am doing my best. I am so very sad as you can imagine. Just pray for God's comfort and strength for us right now. I will update soon.
