The Days Are Getting Harder

Over the past couple of days Mom has continued to grow weaker. We have suddenly seen a dramatic change in her strength and abilities. She is sleeping through the night, usually until almost noon and she is having more difficulty walking. On Saturday night she and Dad walked the loop through our neighborhood. This is a half mile walk. However, today she is barely able to walk through the house without help. She is also having difficulty maintaining focus on a conversation and often forgets what she is doing or talking about. Because this frustrates her, we are attempting to keep the space around her as calm as possible. As always, everyone is very welcome to visit but we are asking that visits be kept short. On the positive side, the home hospice care took blood on Saturday and the lab report shows that although her hemoglobin and platelet counts are low, they are not greatly decreased and she has not had additional bleeding. She does have a high white blood cell count which may indicate an infection but otherwise there is no exceptional problem showing in her blood.

Mom has mentioned the devil several times over the past few days. She is a very intelligent lady and she recognizes the changes that are occurring. She also recognizes the devil's attempts to challenge our faith in these difficult times when we are most vulnerable. She continues to stand strong and to believe in her victory over death through faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. As her sister Mary reminded us tonight of the song, "I've read the back of the Book and we win!"