=====================================
Dennis,

Your mom lived a very full and productive life and
in the end she was very courageous. I'm sure she
will be sorely missed.

Thank you for posting the information.

Dear Dennis,

My deepest sympathies to you and your family.

You have my sympathy, Dennis, and my admiration for the effort you made to
keep your mother comfortable, safe and dignified throughout the horrible
ordeal.

Wow. Sorry but glad the suffering is over for all of you. Sounds like she
was very much 'together' to make those decisions.

Dennis P. Harris <NO_SPAM_TO_dpharris@gci.net> is alleged to have said:

My condolences, Dennis.  Blessings on you for helping her to die with
dignity.  She was very brave, and so are you.

I hope you will still visit this newsgroup, as your postings are very
welcome -- wise and helpful.

I'm sorry to hear of your loss Dennis although I'm glad to hear that
things went as smoothly as can be expected.

Take care,
Darryl.

snip...

Dennis,
Bless you and bless your mother.  She sounds as if she was so full of life
and courage.  I'm so happy you were able to fulfill her wishes of being
allowed to die at home and with dignity.

Dennis White

Dennis, your mother must have been a very intelligent lady, and looks as if
she had a most interesting life.  Happy for all of you that she died at home
according to her wishes.  My sympathy to all the family.
Gwen

Dennis,
  It brings tears to my eyes to read how you brought your mom home.What
a gift you gave to her.Barb

 Dennis:
 I'm so sorry to hear of your mom's death, but so happy she's no longer
suffering. Your mom was an amazing person. You are equally amazing. The love
and care you gave her is evidence of the love and respect you had for your
mom. God bless you both.
 Mary K
 > Those of you who know me know that I have been trying to keep my
 > mother safe at home as long as she could stay there, but that
 > last month we had to move her to an assisted living group home.
 >
 > She had been refusing to use the oxygen prescribed for her
 > emphysema and had stopped taking all her meds, including her
 > bipolar medication and her diuretic.  As a result, her blood
 > pressure shot way up, she got somewhat manic, and she was no
 > longer safe at home.
 >
 > She agreed that she was no longer safe and signed the papers for
 > admission to the group home and to activate her inactive
 > application for the Juneau Pioneers Home.  Activating her put her
 > at the top of the active list for an assisted living bed.
 >
 > She had not been eating much ever since she had been prescribed
 > oxygen, and once she got to assisted living, she still tried to
 > stay off oxygen and wouldn't eat or often even drink.  She became
 > dehydrated, so her docs had her admitted to our local hospital
 > for rehydration, and to withdraw meds in a controlled environment
 > in the hope that she would become more coherent.
 >
 > On Monday the 13th, she was very lucid, and insisted that we have
 > the hydration IV removed, call Hospice, and take her home to die,
 > which we did.  She made her request at 9 in the morning, and
 > Hospice had the hospital bed with alternating air pad delivered
 > in 3 hours, and she was ambulanced home by mid-afternoon.
 >
 > We hired a private overnight caregiver and Hospice sent
 > volunteers, as well a physical therapist to advise on how to turn
 > her to avoid bedsores.  We had prescriptions for morphine and
 > ativan to be administered by eyedropper, and she would suck on
 > swabs when her mouth was dry, but wouldn't drink anything.
 >
 > I had just stopped by the house to check on how she was doing on
 > the afternoon of Thursday the 16th when she coughed once and her
 > heart stopped beating and she stopped breathing.  Finally, for
 > the first time in 10 years, she was no longer struggling for
 > breath.
 >
 > She's now at peace.  We had a wonderful service last Wednesday,
 > and buried her ashes under her cherry tree, just outside the
 > backyard boundary, which happens to legally be in the adjoining
 > cemetery.  She had always joked that we should bury her there.
 >
 > I am so glad that we could take her home and let her die where
 > she wanted, in the room where she had nursed her aunt through the
 > same passage.  She simply did not want to die slowly from
 > emphysema in an assisted living situation and chose an
 > alternative.  I only hope that I have as much courage if I'm ever
 > in such a situation.
 >
 > Thanks to everyone in the group for their support and advice over
 > the past several years.  Without a place to vent, complain, or
 > ask for advice, I would have really been going crazy.
 >
 > R.I.P. Elizabeth Ellen Harris, July 10, 1925 - September 16,
 > 2004.
 >
 > Obituary online at
 > http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/091904/obi_harris.shtml
 >
 >

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 00:42:38 -0800 in alt.support.alzheimers, I
wrote:

And there were many responses.

Thanks to everyone for the kindness and condolences.  I've
experienced the same here in town, where a lot of folks knew my
mother very well.

I'm not going to disappear from here, at least for a while.
Those of us that have been all the way through this journey need
to offer our knowledge and support to those coming behind us.

I also intend to stay involved with care and caregiver issues
locally and statewide.  In her better days, my mother was active
in senior issues and I'm sure I'll do the same, since I'm not
getting any younger!

Once again, thanks to everyone.

Dennis,
I am so sorry about your mom.
((((( Dennis )))))

Hugs,
Trish

You're in my thoughts, Dennis.

Dear Dennis,

I am so sorry for your loss but remember she is at peace.  You helped
her through everything---remember the good times & put the rest out of
your mind.

Always,

Char