Update on Uncle Paul

As many of you know Paul has been fighting Lymphoma for 7 years. when Scott was still alive he took care of his dad in the hospital during his surgery for a brain tumor (also related to the lymphoma). He has undergone every chemo and radiation available and was beginning round 2 of an experimental chemo when he took a rather drastic change for the worse. The lesions on his legs as a result of Agent Orange to which he was exposed in Viet Nam have grown and become
open sores which bleed when the dressing is changed. Monday 6/1 he was readmitted to Kaiser for reevaluation of his condition. Tuesday night he was sent home on hospice with less than 2 months to live. i am grateful for what I learned when my mom was sick and for my nursing training which allows me to help Kay to care for him. He is unable to eat more than a few bites at once, he is unable to drink anything that isnt thickened to pudding consistency and he is only able to speak in a whisper and only a few words at once. He is in and out of coherence most of the day and must be given morphine before we change the dressings on his legs which must be done 2x each day. Kay is such a trooper and you can be very proud of their kids who have rallied together for each other and for their dad. Kaiser is providing Hospice Care - a nurse, home health aid, social worker and occasional MD but Eric has taken leave of his job so he can be available to help his mom. Paul still weighs 265lbs and stands 6-5 so turning him and holding up his legs for dressing changes etc is definitely a multiperson job. Robert and Debbie are there daily to help. Robert will be a father in about 4 months. Danny is available 24 hrs a day to his mom when she needs his brawn to help with his Dad. Stacy lives in Arizona with her husband and 3 little girls and drives in Sunday afternoon and stays until Wednesday evening when she returns to Arizona and takes care of her hair clients Thursday, friday and Saturday - busy girl.
Kay is blessed to have Scotts daughter with them every day also. Please keep them in your prayers - as you can imagine they are all exhausted and need all the strength they can derive from friends and prayers. Mark and Larry were able to give Paul a blessing last Sunday night before the last trip to the hospital and I know kay was very grateful for that. This is a little close to home for Dad so keep him in your prayers too. Thanks for caring.