Monday Update

Monday, 8:00 pm Update:
Talked with Gail a little earlier and nothing has really changed. Larry is still fairly stable although Gail felt he was a little warm and they requested some ice packs to put on him. He is mostly sleeping with a few moments of opening his eyes, still is not speaking. Steve and Chris came by to keep Gail and Larry company for a few hours. Gail spoke with some friends of Larry and her and they may come by for a visit tomorrow which would be great.

Monday, 1:15 pm Update:
Just spoke with Gail, she is in Larry's room. Larry seems to be a little more cognisant of Gail's presence. He has opened his eyes some and is responding to her touch although he is still not speaking. Gail is working on a crossword puzzle and asking Larry for the answers, he keeps opening his eyes seeming like he is trying to help her! Oh if only he could! I told her I would make up a K-Mart crossword for her, that would definitely get Lar's attention! He doesn't appear to be in any pain and is not agitated or anything like that. They have cool compresses on his head for the fever. Nothing else has changed.

Monday, 10:00 am Update
Gail has asked that I post updates on Larry as frequently as possible to keep everybody abreast of what is happening. Gail and I talk at least 4 or 5 times a day so I hopefully can post an update as I get them from Gail. It is excruciating to me to not be able to be physically close to Gail and help her and the boys in this extremely difficult time. For those that don't know, I live in Texas.

Yesterday, Sunday, Larry was transferred to the third floor of St. Joseph's Hospital in Elgin, this is the floor that they manage hospice patients on. He tolerated the transfer well although he is still sleeping most of the time and apparently did not wake up even with the transfer. He has been taken off all monitors and medications except for the morphine and the ativan. He still has his PICC line (iv line) in his arm and is receiving those two meds thru it. He has not opened his eyes in several days so it is hard to determine if he is really sleeping or if he is just resting. He has not spoke for several days as well. Gail, Steve and Chris have been keeping an almost constant vigil at his bedside although they all did go home last night to get some much needed sleep. While they are in the room with Larry, they are sharing stories, watching the Cubs and the Blackhawks and trying to be as comforting to Larry as possible. The doctors and nurses have shared that they believe the hearing is the last to go, so we all think Larry can still hear everything around him. For all of you that know Larry like I do, Larry loved hearing funny stories and loved telling them even more.

Gail just spoke with the hospice nurse this morning and got a report from her about how Larry is doing. His vital signs are for the most part stable, although his fever has risen some and was at 101.0 earlier. The nurse indicated he seems slightly more distressed this morning so not to be surprised when Gail gets there. She thinks the distress is related to the fever. Everything else is status quo.

Gail asked that I extend a "thank you" to everyone who is thinking and praying for them at this time. She also asked that you all continue to do so and if anyone has a a "fast track to the Big Guy in heaven" please ask for speediness to this process. Larry has suffered far too long and doesn't need to continue to do so.

That's all of the news I have for now. I will try and update later when I speak with Gail.

Pass on the Larry love....