"Valley of the shadow of death..."

As the patrons in the Ogre, Elf, Imp and Urchin continue their
discussions, suddenly, they environs fade out, becoming nothing
but swirling mist...all except for the ogre.

He stands in the shadows, his head bowed. After a few moments,
he steps forward from the shadows. As he walks forward, he
appears to shrink down. His bulky muscles reduce to nothing more
than normal limbs. A swirl of mist crosses the watchers' vision
and when it clears, a man stands before them. His hair is dark
with streaks of white at the temples. He's not too tall and not
necessarily a prime physical specimen. What strikes the
watcher's most is his face.

His dark blue eyes are red rimmed from weeping. The dark circles
under them show a lack of sleep. His mouth is turned down
slightly as it is obvious he is fighting back tears. But deep in
his eyes is a "peace that passes all understanding."

He raises his chin, takes a deep breath and...

"I'm standing before all of you because you've expressed concern
for my Mom and her well being. I figured y'all deserved to know
the latest.

Sometime between a CAT scan on the 18th and another radiological
dye CAT scan on the 22nd, Mom has developed a perforation in her
small intestine. This will lead to a terminal illness called
peritonitis caused by the leaking of intestinal bacteria into the
abdominal cavity. While surgery to remove the damaged section is
an option, the chances are not good. Without surgery, death is
definite. With the surgery, death is not necessarily definite
but during the recovery process there is less than a 10% chance
of survival. The recovery would include continued dialysis, Mom
would be back on a respirator, and there would be numerous OTHER
new things going on. After much prayer and consultation with
family and the doctors (and Mom was awake enough and lucid enough
to be involved), the decision has been made to seek no further
treatment.

At this time, she is receiving pain medication via IV, fluids for
hydration, and anti-biotics to keep her relatively stable and
comfortable. Dialysis has been stopped, IV nutrition has been
stopped. In my Dad's words, "We (meaning Mom and Dad) discussed
the results of doing nothing, which result would be death soon,
and she made it clear to me that she was ready to meet Jesus."

We are all still praying for a miracle because we believe that
God is a God of miracles. But we have also realized that Mom is
tired of the fight. There is a better place, a glorious place,
where she will have a new body without pain, sickness, grief or
death. She will be with her Lord and she will never fear again.
We envy her that trip and we will miss her terribly. But we know
that it is just for a short time and our leave taking is more on
the lines of "See you later" than "Good bye".

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes during this time.
Continue to pray, as we do, for a miracle. But also pray for
comfort, peace, and freedom from pain. Pray for us as a family
as we go through the grieving process and the waiting.

Thank you."

With that, he turns and walks back into the mist which swirls
gently as the gentle strains of a bagpipe playing "Amazing Grace"
can be heard in the distance.

Rob Martin

Rob Martin wrote:
>
> We are all still praying for a miracle because we believe that
> God is a God of miracles. But we have also realized that Mom is
> tired of the fight. There is a better place, a glorious place,
> where she will have a new body without pain, sickness, grief or
> death. She will be with her Lord and she will never fear again.
> We envy her that trip and we will miss her terribly. But we know
> that it is just for a short time and our leave taking is more on
> the lines of "See you later" than "Good bye".
>
> Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes during this time.
> Continue to pray, as we do, for a miracle. But also pray for
> comfort, peace, and freedom from pain. Pray for us as a family
> as we go through the grieving process and the waiting.
>
> Thank you."
>
> With that, he turns and walks back into the mist which swirls
> gently as the gentle strains of a bagpipe playing "Amazing Grace"
> can be heard in the distance.

Rob, words cannot convey my feelings at this moment. I am so sorry
that your mother is suffering and send my continued best hopes and
wishes for either her recovery or her peaceful passing.

{{{HUGS}}}

Iva
a/k/a Purrt