It has been a very good week here! We seem to have that delicate balance between pain control and Gene not sleeping much of the time, as well as having the nausea under control. I have been in awe of how good Gene is doing this week: he is alert and interacting more than I remember him doing for several months; he has also had an interest in sitting and talking to someone on a range of subjects—and has on several occasions this week. He has been pretty tired this week-end, but he does seem to sleep more in general. We are both so impressed with our Hospice staff and with the range of services they offer. It has taken Gene and I awhile to get used to that much structure in our lives and people around so many days each week. Our current schedule with hospice staff is: Mon. 9 - 10:30 AM Eden (Aide) Tues. 10:00 AM Patti (RN) Wed. 8:30 – 11:30 AM Lowell (Volunteer) 9 – 10:30 AM Eden tba Patti 11:15 Kim (Massage Therapist) Thurs. tba Randy (SW) or Keith (Pastor) Fri. 9 - 10:30 AM Eden (Aide) 10:00 AM Patti (RN) We are also so appreciative of Rebecca, Jeremy and Phil for their continued support! After a month with Hospice, I have decided that I would like some time each week to just disappear for a few hours so I can process my feelings, read some of the volumes of information that I have accumulated, and to assess what more/changes I would like to see in Gene’s care. Thus, you will notice the addition of Lowell to our schedules on Wednesday mornings. Lowell was here the past Wednesday for a couple of hours so that both he and Gene could get familiar with each other, and Gene instantly like Lowell very much! Lowell is just very relaxed and an excellent conversationalist, so the two of them sat and chatted about anything and everything for almost the full 2 hours. Gene is more than ready to kick me out the door when Lowell is here. We decided to keep an appointment we had with Dr. Bandstra this past week just to thank him for the care and support he has given us over the past 8 ½ years. As seems to be the trend, Dr. Bandstra was surprised by how aggressively Gene’s PSA is rising. He also looked at Gene’s scans from late July while we were there; he came back into the exam room shaking his head and saying Gene has mets everywhere from his hips to his neck—this cancer is really angry! Dr. Bandstra agreed that Hospice is appropriate now, and told us that he will continue to be there for us if there is anything he can do. Hospice has been working with us on medical appliances that will help Gene. We received a rollator (walker on 4-wheels) from them, but gave it the first real test when we went to see Bandstra. It was a disaster! The wheels caught on cracks in the sidewalk & door jambs and it was very uncomfortable for Gene to walk that distance with. After we came home, I got on line and looked up information on choosing and fitting a walker. Upon reading through that information, it was easy to see that although I had fit his quad-cane to him, his walkers were 6+” to high. Patti was able to get a pediatric walker for Gene, and he is so much happier now! We were both stunned by the news late this past week that Dr. Baldi was arrested on 8 counts of involuntary manslaughter, and the Iowa Medical Board has filed to revoke his medical license. What is happening with him is like a national medical witch hunt for those who prescribe narcotic pain killers. There have been very few doctors willing to stick their heads out and treat chronic pain. Recently, those doctors have faced a range of disciplinary actions (although Dr. Baldi seems to be the first to face legal action), and the whole medical community has faced increasingly stringent guidelines for prescribing pain killers. I think there are some issues with this that beg medical redefinition before we see doctors burned at the stake for doing what has been standard practice. As an example: Dr. Baldi did take self-referrals. In doing that, where does the doctor’s responsibility lay in determining whether the patient has a history of abusing pain meds, has an overdose/suicide attempt history, etc. Those issues are the basis for the criminal charges he faces. I did find a book available online that I want to share with you. It addresses so many of the issues of this journey we are on with Gene. The book is available online at this site, or may be purchased from Amazon: Handbook for Mortals http://tinyurl.com/95fddv3 If you get a chance, please share your memories, pictures, thoughts or whatever you would like. Gene would love to see/read them!