I received a shocking phone call a little over a month ago from my mother. While she was visiting the previous week, she had been on the phone constantly battling doctors/appointments/transferring of records for my Pawpaw. I was privy to many of these conversations and I knew that she was taking both Mawmaw and Pawpaw to the doctor when she returned home. This is nothing new. They are old. Old people go to the doctor often. But, this visit was not like those of the past. My Pawpaw was told that he is dying.
This man is the strongest person that I know as he has overcome cancer on three different occasions. He is extremely hard headed and does not complain about much. He was told that the mass that was found the month prior was cancer on his liver and it was extremely aggressive.
In the last two weeks his health has taken a turn for the worst. While I was in Austin for work my mother called to tell me that I should plan a trip to Houston to visit him as soon as possible. Last weekend, I packed up The Kidlet and we went to visit Pawpaw.
When we arrived on Saturday, he was alert and happy to see us. The Kidlet "performed" for him, we had dinner and enjoyed our time together. On Sunday when we visited before leaving to drive back to DFW, he was lethargic, his color had gone from a jaundice yellow to a true yellow and he was not alert. We told him that we loved him, hugged goodbye, he told me to be careful driving home and we left.
The next day, I was at a golf tournament when my cousin called. I could tell by the tone in her voice that this was not good news. I was right. Pawpaw was in the ER and things didn't look good. The nurses spoke of starting the process to get Hospice set up. I was in tears.
He was in the hospital all of last week but released this past Friday. He is a trooper and hanging in there to make sure that Mawmaw will be okay. This man is strong. He is a good man but he is very sick.
I know that I should be preparing for what is inevitable but I'm still hoping for a miracle.
