January 21st, 2017

Dad passed away this morning, 1/21/17 at 5:42 am. Myself, Mikayla, Mom, Jim, and Jack were all with him. We will be making final visitation and funeral arrangements in the next day or so.

We had been taking turns staying over night with him. Myself and Mikayla had been sick so Mom stayed several days in a row. At that point, he would sleep during the day and be awake most of the evening and night. He didn't open his eyes much but would pull and tug on the blankets and his shirt. Some nights were rougher than others but we did our best to keep him comfortable, calm, and relaxed.

Last night (Friday the 20th), I was feeling better and was going to stay the night with him. Mom and Mikayla went home between 7 and 8 pm. Jim and I were sitting with Dad and he seemed a little more upset and agitated than normal. We had to request several extra doses of comfort meds with the hopes of getting him to relax. Talking and holding his hand seemed to help some but not enough. The night nurse came in around 10 pm and after looking him over, suggested that we give Mom a call because she did not think he would make it through the night. His skin was "mottling" from the heart not pumping adequately and starting to slow down. This looks like bruising on the skin and progressed as the night went on.

The past few days, he would take several short, shallow breaths followed by moments of apnea which could last anywhere from a few seconds to up to 15 or 20 seconds. That continued until midnight or so then the apnea stopped and he was just taking short, shallow breaths. He was very congested, which is normal. and while there is a medication to help with that, it wasn't strong enough and the nurses had to use a suction machine to attempt to remove some of the fluids. Around 4 am, he was given oxygen. The nurse advised that it wouldn't prolong anything but would hopefully relax him enough so his breathing wasn't as labored. Between that and laying him on his side, he seemed like he was having an easier time breathing.

The nursing home contacted our hospice team and updated them on what was going on. They sent out a nurse and as she entered the room, she looked over at Dad and then looked at Mom and said it was going to be soon. She got her stethoscope and after a few moments said "I can't find a heartbeat." Words I will remember for the rest of my life.

We sat as a family with him until Baue arrived and took care of things from there. Tomorrow we will meet with Baue and make arrangements for the visitation and funeral. His obituary will be on Baue's website and I will post everything on here as well.

Thank you to everyone for your love and support for the past 18 months.