Update: 04/03/06

Medications:

450 mg. Extended Release Morphine Suppositories (5 doses).

70 mg. Oral Morphine (3 doses 30-20-20).

80-mg/800-mg. Diazepam 10-mg., Phenobarbital 100-mg. Suppositories (8 doses).

How Joann’s Day Went:

Condition unchanged. She remains in a medically induced coma because of her pain.

VNA nurse Ruth and VNA home healthcare aid Joyce stopped by today. Ruth checked vitals and made sure the medications were going well. I got another lesson in suppositories, which was fine. I needed to get some confidence going there and any help I get benefits Joann greatly, as I’m learning. Joyce gave Joann a bath and washed her hair, always an important thing for a woman, in a coma or not.

I finally got some decent sleep for 7 hours last night, took a shower and shave this afternoon. I no longer smell like a goat and look like a llama. In the late afternoon, I sat and had a talk with Joann. I told her it was okay to "go home." I hadn’t understood what she meant by that expression three days ago, but I do now. It relates to the movie "Soylent Green," where Edward G. Robinson figures its time to be euthanized. That process was called "going home," where dying is easier than trying to live against all odds. I hope I’ve released her.