sutton041

I often hear people telling me that I can’t possibly be a good caregiver for Riley because of all our past history. I’m told that it makes me hostile and that he would be better off in a nursing home. I don’t agree with any of that nonsense. I made a commitment to both my daughter and to Riley to “see this through” to the end. That’s what I intend to do. When Riley returned home after having been in a nursing home for a week so that I could get some respite, his health had greatly declined. I called the hospice office and told them I believed that Riley had a bladder infection and that I needed a prescription for something to treat it. It took more than two weeks for someone to come get a urine sample for testing. Then it took about five days for the lab to report that he did, in fact, have a urinary tract infection. We received the medication late the next afternoon. While we were waiting for the medication, Riley became increasingly sick. By the time I got the first dose into him, he...

I received the following letter from a reader and it moved me to a point where I knew I had to share this with my readers. If you read my blog, then you know the frustration of trying to help someone when all help seems futile. Please take the time to listen to the song and follow along with the lyrics included below. -- Linda Hi Linda, My younger brother has struggled with an addiction to heroin for about 6 years. It has ruined his character, destroyed his self-control, and robbed him of all of his money and possessions. Our whole family has tried to help him recover through several different rehabilitation services, but every attempt to save him from his addiction seemed to fail. At one point, he begged for money living on the streets as we let him try to find his “Rock bottom,” but we realized this wasn’t going to heal him or improve his situation. We eventually tracked him down and we haven’t given up hope that he will change. I know in your line of work, you are familiar with hund...

I believe strongly that knowledge is the key to survival. It goes right along with knowledge equating to power. The more you know the more powerful you can be. I suspect that Riley’s cancer has returned. There are physical indications that tell me that something is “off”. It really doesn’t matter if the cancer is back or not. He is already in hospice for end-stage liver disease and a confirmation that his cancer has returned will not change that. He will not get treatment for the cancer both because he is in hospice and he has stated that he wants no more chemo or radiation. So, really, what’s the point in putting him through the round of testing (which takes months) to determine if any Tommy the Tumors have returned? A few weeks ago, Riley was in a nursing home for five days while I had a little respite. When he returned, he told me that he had not been given his medication correctly. I thought he was just talking nonsense until I observed his behavior. He definitely was off his meds....