June 23

Hello folks, this is Scott.

As you know, today is the first day Quinny planned to stop eating. As it turns out, she got a bit of a head start on that yesterday. Yesterday was her free for all day to have any and all peeps over to say their good byes. She planned on doing a last blog of her own (sort of a bonus blog), and she was going to make a final dinner for anyone who was there at the time. Her body and her health had different plans. Sammy was visiting with her in the afternoon when things took turn for the worse. Sammy told me Cathy was not having a good day. She was not up to blogging or cooking. There came a point when Cathy became disoriented and lost the ability to communicate. Sammy was concerned and called me. These symptoms were new to me, and I beat it over there as quick as I could. Sometimes a fast car is a necessity. While I was on route, Sammy contacted hospice for some advice. By the time I got there Sammy had Cathy in bed, and she had hospice on the phone. Cathy was completely unresponsive to me. Almost immediately she began having some sort of seizure where her whole entire body was flailing around. I later learned these are called grand mal seizures. Sammy asked that a nurse come to the house to assist us. Sue, the nurse (who is a terrific lady by the way) was on her way, but it would take her longer than we imagined. Cathy continued to have on again off again seizures where the on agains got longer, and the off agains got shorter. I honestly thought she was about to die right then and there. Sammy and I would hold her and tell her we loved her throughout. When nurse Sue arrived she phoned a doctor who recommended we give her 2mg of Lorazepam to ease the seizures. That did the trick. Sue counseled us on the care Quinny would need. It was more than I could provide for her at home. Ultimately, I got her checked in at the Hildebrandt Hospice Care Center last night. I am here at her side as I type this. I was hesitant to take her out of the home she loves so much, but now that we are here I'm glad I did. Cathy has not been responsive since before I showed up yesterday. It's impossible to tell if she has any awareness of where she is, but I'm confident that if she does understand, she is glad to be here. It is a beautiful facility with an outstanding staff. They make her light years more comfortable than I could at home. It also allows me the opportunity to just be with her, and not try to be her nurse. They are showing to be very capable professionals, and Cathy deserves the very best care.

The expectations here are that Cathy is not likely to regain any awareness, and will pass fairly soon. This is what Cathy would want. She has told me repeatedly that she would just like to go to sleep and not wake up. I can tell you there have been a couple of mornings that she woke up, and was disappointed that she did. I should have a visit from the Doctor soon. I intend to communicate Cathy's wishes for a comfortable and peaceful end.

That's all I have for now. Thank you everyone for all the love and warmth. I will keep you posted.

Scott.