Mom is transitioning.

After being in Memory Care since June of 2019, and after taking 55 falls due to advanced dementia, my mother is now transitioning and taking the final leg of her journey on earth. It came unexpectedly, although she's been declining for the past 6 months. I believe she had a TIA about 12 days ago b/c her upper lip was droopy and she was slumping over more than usual in her wheelchair. The hospice nurse advised that TIA are oftentimes precursors to bigger events down the road. On Sunday of this week, she could no longer sit up in her wheelchair & had to be moved into her easy chair in her apartment. On Tuesday she went to bed and has been there ever since. I feel like she may have had a real stroke, but we'll never know for sure.

She's now developed a fever and is short of breath; the nurse feels heart failure is at play. She's being kept comfortable by hospice, who's been marvelous since they accepted her in late December. I've been visiting her every day & listening to her whisper to someone she's having a conversation with that I can't see. It's probably one of her beloved late sister's she's been talking about incessantly for months now. :)

We are scheduled to leave for AZ next Friday for my DH to have a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. We can postpone the trip if necessary, by about a week or so. I don't feel like my mother is going to last too much longer in this condition, though, but only God knows her future.

Please keep us in your prayers if you are so inclined, as this is a particularly difficult time with mom's transition and an impending liver transplant coming up. I fluctuate between feeling relieved that her pain & suffering is coming to an end, and incredibly sad at the same time for having to bury my mother. I'm sure you can relate to that mixed bag of emotions.

Thanks in advance to all who read this and send their prayers/good vibes/well wishes. You are appreciated.