The Family Royal

Currently, I'm in Texas at my parents' home.

The Father of the Queen has been released from the local hospital into hospice care. I will be here as long as Mom and Dad need me. Dad has fibrosis of the lungs, for which there is no cure and no treatment, except to comfort the patient. The hospice has been wonderful so far and it's nice to see their friendly, caring, comforting faces each and every day. Dad is taking two breathing treatments each day in addition to the meds that allow him to produce and get rid of the phlegm in his lungs. Apparently not being able to breathe is quite frightening (no, really) and it induces panic attacks and general freak-out mode several times per day. We have a list of things to try to help and so far, they all work.

My sister is here with us and we are gathering the powers of Good, but folks, the outlook is not positive. The doctors told Dad when he left the hospital that he has 2 weeks to three months. I don't think he's accepted this news and he is continues to plan for the future. We let him talk about these plans in the hope that the doctors are wrong. wWe will have longer than the doctors predict, but at this stage it's so sad seeing how hard it is for him to breathe that I don't want it to progress too much further.

Please keep us in your prayers.