My mother was admitted to the ICU on the Saturday, September 24th while I was in Charlotte and has been there ever since while the doctors have been trying various treatments to support her oxygen levels. Nothing has worked. I’ve been assuming that this visit would be like all the others over the last couple years – a few days in the hospital and then she’d come home.

Mom’s doctors had a frank and honest discussion with her yesterday (and called me yesterday afternoon to discuss it as well) and said that her prognosis is not good. They are doing all they can to keep her oxygen levels up to where she can breathe but they cannot continue that level of oxygen outside of an ICU environment and her oxygen saturation will continue to drop over time due to the her decreasing lung and heart function. They suggested that we look into some type of hospice care because doing what they’re doing in the ICU is exposing her to other problems like infections and pneumonia. She is alert and actually feels relatively good so this makes deciding these things very difficult. Debbie has been very helpful in navigating these waters and had really been there for me.

We’re going to be heading to MA tomorrow to visit and help her make the necessary decisions. I’m not sure what the coming days and weeks will hold.