This has been the week from hell

[Danmel]

First, as you know, my kitty Chester died suddenly. He was an orange tabby, a feral rescue who was always afraid, despite more than 12 years of attempting to get him to let himself be loved.

Much worse, my father in law has sharply declined in the last few weeks. He is 88, has congestive heart failure. He has been very reluctant to eat for quite some time and has lost an alarming amount of weight. Until just a week or 2 ago, he has been mentally sharp. Now he is sleeping excessively, refusing medication and food, is disoriented and belligerent and making no sense at all. He is in an assisted living and has a 24/7 aide.
This morning she found him on the floor. He was unhurt but has no idea what happened.
It is just so sad.
And the state of the world is not helping.
Sorry for the long depressing post. I need to vent and my husband is obviously even more upset than I am and our grown kids (one of whom is getting married soon) are distraught.
Any good news or good thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[mopinko]

1. sounds like dad should be getting hospice care.

even tho he is in assisted living, they are there to take care of dad, but hospice is there for the whole family.
it is covered by medicare, it's your right.
they will do much to soften this terrible blow.

hang in there. reach out, and take the hands that are reaching out to you.

[Danmel]

2. My husband and his sister are working on setting that up

The family dynamic is a bit weird, better than it has been for quite some time, but I need to respect their boundaries. Thanks for reaching out.

[Freddie]

6. My dad was in hospice care in an assisted living place too

They were great. One thing about hospice is they take them off ALL meds except those needed for comfort. When they took Dad off his heart meds he was gone in 2 days (he was 92). It was obvious that the only thing keeping him alive was the heart meds. It’s hard - thinking of you.

[UTUSN]

3. The good news/thoughts is that we are at DU all with one another. Sending consolations.

[onecaliberal]

4. I'm sorry this is all happening to your family.

[TruckFump]

5. So very sorry.

It seems in my life I have lost so many precious people and 4-legged children around the holidays. This is such a hard time to have this kind of sadness and stress.

Hope this hug helps:

[The Blue Flower]

7. These are hard straits to navigate

I hope there is peace for you and your family as you go through this.

[wendyb-NC]

8. My heart goes out to you and your loved ones.

I am sending good vibes your way, for the rainbows light to show in your current difficult time. Sometimes our lives get inundated by
with difficult stuff, all at once. Sorry, that your father in law is declining, hospice might be a great help.

The political mayhem, since the election of 2016 was botched by that orange guys buddies in another country, is a constant barrage. I definitely makes hard times over whelming. Take it one day at a time, and be good to your selves.

Thank you, for being Chester's hero, you gave him the best life.

Peace and blessings.

[lunatica]

9. Some of the symptoms you mention sound like dad should be getting

hospice care.

My mother had home hospice care and towards the end she stopped eating and lost a lot of weight. When she got the point that she stopped drinking water was when the palliative nurse told me the end was close. Death is a process where the body and mind shut down in stages.