Dennis Elder--9/10/09

Just received Susan's update on Dennis.

Unfortunately, he has not been discharged from the hospital yet. They took him for a chest x-ray yesterday and discovered that he may have pneumonia. So far, there is no fever or other side effects so he will have another x-ray this morning.

Dennis' nurses say that Susan is a "natural" at administering his meds via his feeding tube. I am sure that that is one thing that Susan never thought that she would have to do! I am also sure that it is not easy. Before I married Danley, I was an aide at the nursing home. One of the ladies there had had to have a permanent tube inserted into her abdomen. We would have to use a large dropper to transfer her liquids and food into her stomach. It was TERRIBLE! You couldn't do it too quickly nor could you do it too slowly. It took awhile to get it "just right". She was a personal friend of mine and had always savored eating so it was tough not being able to let her eat. Even though she was comatose, she would groan if the food was poured in too quickly. That is one of the reasons that I believe that there are worse things than death.

Please remember Dennis and Susan in your daily prayers!

VLE-B