Well, we did it! After talking about it, and me explaining what it said about the risks involved, Bill decied he wanted to sign the waiver so that he could eat. All he did yesterday morning was complain that he asked for a cup of coffee and they wouldn't give it to him and he was so very thirsty. He did get a little yogurt and water during speech therapy again and then the nurse brought in the paperwork, which we both had to sign. I don't have any regrets and I'm not second-guessing the decision. As I told the kids when we made the decision, Bill will be 76 years old next Saturday, let him enjoy whatever time he has left, and they all, or at least the ones who responded, agreed.

There are lots of rules he has to follow. If he doesn't maintain his weight, they will supplement him with tube feeds, and we expected that as that had been explained when the peg was placed. He also has to eat very small bites and take very small sips and alternate them. I also have to monitor him, and he must be sitting in his wheelchair to eat, and he has to have his pulse ox on his finger to watch is oxygen level. He's to cough periodically to make sure things make it all the way down, and he's to double or even triple swallow.

His first meal was fish, and it was a gigantic piece. I cut less than half of it into small pieces, and it was cooked well, it just fell apart. The rest of his lunch, except for dessert, was all of the southern dishes he hates, squash and turnip greens and cornbread. He did get a small piece of lemon icebox pie and a glass of tea. He drank all the tea and ate several bites of the fish and a little of the pie. It didn't take much to fill him up, and that's not surprising either. The amount of "food" he was getting through his tube was the equivalent of 10 teaspoons per hour. That's not much! So his stomach has probably shrunk down to nearly nothing.

For dinner he had shopped steak, mashed potates, brussel sprouts, roll and a teeny piece of something chocolate. He said he wasn't hungry but he did eat a little. They are supposed to chop all of his meat to make it easier for him to eat. This time he didn't even drink all of his tea. But he had been sipping on water all afternoon.

His x-ray didn't show any new pneumonia, but it did show some fluid build-up around his heart. They ordered a blood test to measure a certain level of something and I finally found the test in his chart from Memphis and the last one I could find was done on Nov. 29. When they asked how sick he was that day I told them that was the day he was discharged to skilled nursing the first time. So, they had a baseline number to use. His number was higher than that so they are adding more lasix for 3 days, then they are going to re-test on Tuesday. They said they want him upright as much as possible, which means in his wheelchair and not sitting up in his bed. He was in his chair all day yesterday but got into bed after dinner before I left. I haven't gotten any calls so I guess everything is OK. This was the first night he was alone as James was discharged yesterday and I don't think they are planning on moving another roommate in.

There was another death yesterday morning and something else happened to another patient. All the staff was running down the hall and then EMTs came running with a gurney and 5 minutes later they were going back through. I went to the nurses' station to ask his nurse if she had found some padding for his oxygen tubing (it is stiff and between it and his glasses has rubbed a sore on his ear) she just covered her face. I told her I knew they had had a rough day and she just nodded. Later she said she just wanted to go home and have a do-over couple of days.

I am not getting my day off today, and that's OK. Emily was going to stay with Bill today while I stayed home and got some things done around here, but Bryan has either the flu or strep, so I decided that it wasn't worth it to risk exposing Bill. As Em said, she can't quarantine him like she could Brianna, she had to sleep with him.

We're swapping cars tonight so that she can take mine to get Don and Shirley at the airport tomorrow evening. Hers sits very low to the ground and I think Don would have a hard time getting in and out. I'm going to get some supplies for us to have in the room, some soup and sandwich makings and drinks and such. I've been worried about them not having transportation on Monday to get some lunch as I have to leave by 12 for an appointment with my cardiologist. She's probably not going to be very happy with me, but I think she will understand when I tell her what's been going on.

We were supposed to get some freezing rain last night, but I don't think we did, so maybe the drive won't be too bad today. I told Bill I would try to be there by 8.

I think I've covered about everything. I'll let you know how it goes today!