John had a very restful night's sleep Tuesday night, awakening just before sunrise on Wednesday. The hospice floor at UCSF is on the 14th floor of the 505 Parnassus building. This places it on a ridge that has a panoramic view of the Golden Gate, Marin Headlands, the GGB, Golden Gate Park, USF and St. Ignatius church all the way to the east for much of the downtown skyline. In the distance the east-shore of the bay is awash with twinkling lights at night while the towers of St. Ignatius are lit up.
As the sun rose we saw that John was sitting up and he revealed that he had some lingering thoughts from the past two days to consider. They were of the sort you might imagine arise at this time, and were good to go through as a family.
Just before 8 a friend who happens to be a neuro-nurse here at UCSF popped in. She dropped off a tub of coffee and a box of bagels. John surprised us by asking if the food and coffee were for him. The nurse confirmed he could have what he'd like as long as his stomach could tolerate. He plowed through coffee, bagels, popsicles (cherry), and a cinnamon roll from the awesome Peters Bakery on Alum Rock Ave near our home. He was quite content.
The previous two days had seen a flurry of visitors, both family and friends. However, as the hospice team had been struggling to finetune his pain medication, much of John's visitation with them was hazy. Today he was very lucid as they had zeroed in a good baseline dosage. So his conversations in the morning with his grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts, cousins and many friends went really well. He napped till the start of the first place Giants game and enjoyed watching another win. While watching another splendid sunset, he indulged in not one but two milkshakes; one from Mitchell's and the other from Mel's drive-in.
He now awaits the arrival of two of his college roommates who are flying in from the northwest this evening. Two more arrive tomorrow and that is an eagerly anticipated arrival.
In all we had a fine day and hope for the same tomorrow. We are taking it one day at a time, focusing on his comfort. Thanks again to all who have come by or called him. He truly loves you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment