Schedule for Care for Linda/ Meals/ Fundraiser
Schedule for Care for Linda
Thank you everyone for the deluge of phone calls and emails offering to provide hospice care for Linda and Don.
I have created a tentative schedule, which I have attached. You'll notice a) that it is color-coded and b) that there is no key :). Keys take too much time-- sorry. Every household has their own color, so find your name and color, and you'll pretty much figure it out.
If your name is in red with a question mark after it, that means that you have offered help and in some cases provided times, so I tried to schedule for a convenient/available time. However, I HAVE NOT CONFIRMED WITH YOU. Therefore, if you CAN provide care where your name is indicated,
1) please select a new color for it (NOT BLACK)
2)change your name's color everywhere it appears
3) save the document
4) send it back to me.
If you CANNOT provide care where your name is indicated, please try to choose a slot with the red word AVAILABLE, and replace it with your name in BLACK.
Then save the document and send it back to me, and I will try to sort through the schedule once again.
I spoke with Don again this evening. He said Linda was so happy when she heard she could come home-- it was like the best Christmas present ever. He sounded tired but very grateful and pleased.
I'd like to say that even though I am coordinating the schedule, there is room for everyone. If it is important for you to volunteer, even for a short time, let me know-- or simpy come by the house.
The rules are that there must be two people there (Don + 1) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The person who is scheduled to be there for hospice care MUST STAY AWAKE. However, there can certainly be other people there during these times. The schedule offers Don commitments to make this possible.
If you need to change your time, please contact me at 341-9232 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I do have a stream of medical student volunteers standing by to come at the last possible minute, God Bless Them. PLEASE do not forget your time, or neglect to find a replacement if you cannot go at your time. Dereck and I are the pinch-hitters-- we will make sure with our own bodies that someone is always there when they need to be.
A few more words about care: Ellie will be around, so those of you who come during the day will also be providing some Ellie care. A decision to bring a child might be beneficial to Ellie.
One thing, the most difficult thing, to remember is that Linda's condition is going to worsen over time. She has maybe five days to a week of cognition left before the morphine is increased to levels that make her just cease to care, and she will be consious less and less. For those of you who volunteer between the hours of 4 p.m. and 7 a.m., she will probably be asleep most if not all of the time you are there. And when one of us is there, Linda is going to die. I admit that I do not know exactly what to expect-- but I plan to do some reading to prepare myself. If you are there at this time and you don't think that you can handle it, please call me immediately and I will come.
No one, of course, knows exactly what will happen when. This is a beautiful, amazing thing we are privileged to partake in. Thank you.
Meals
So that Don does not have to shop or worry about meals, I would love to establish a schedule of meals. The simplist thing to do, probably, is to plan to bring one meal for every shift you have volunteered for. For those of you who would like to provide a meal, and are not on the schedule, call me and I will coordinate it-- or just bring something by.
Linda will be home late tomorrow afternoon. Ellie will stay home from daycare and be there when the hospital bed arrives, and have time to become acclimated to it before Linda comes home.
Don and Linda live on Boundary Street. Go West on Hamilton Street until you get to Boundary. Go LEFT. Go SOUTH for about a mile and a half? It's a WHITE house on the LEFT side of the road. The number is 23192, and there is a barn right there next to the house, and another house beside it.
Thank you to Karen and Sarah for getting pretty sheets :).
Fundraiser
Royce has secured, for free, the top floor of the Dukum from the generous owner, Craig. Craig is providing a keg, also. The date is Friday February 20, beginning at 6 pm. There will be music, friends, etc., and we are PROHIBITING SMOKING ON THE TOP FLOOR.
Royce will be printing out tickets for the fundraiser in the next day or so, and we'll give you more information about the suggested donation. We are also going to have Don establish a special account at his bank for this, and we will tell you later which trust checks can be made out to.
Don will have a minimum of $3000 in medical bills, not to mention childcare to provide for the next three years at least. We are hoping to raise at least $3000 at this fundraiser-- the Dukum will hold 150 people.
Thank you again for your amazing love and support.
Jen
p.s. There will be an article in The Index Thursday 2/12/04. The reporter interviewed Dereck and I among others, and I called Don and told him what the article will contain, and he gave his permission. The reporter was genuinely anxious to provide an article that Don and Linda would be happy with. If she does not honor this intention, I will be furious, and that's not a good idea right now. But I did want you to be prepared for the article, and to know that it is being done with Don's knowledge and approval.
Schedule for Care for Linda
Thank you everyone for the deluge of phone calls and emails offering to provide hospice care for Linda and Don.
I have created a tentative schedule, which I have attached. You'll notice a) that it is color-coded and b) that there is no key :). Keys take too much time-- sorry. Every household has their own color, so find your name and color, and you'll pretty much figure it out.
If your name is in red with a question mark after it, that means that you have offered help and in some cases provided times, so I tried to schedule for a convenient/available time. However, I HAVE NOT CONFIRMED WITH YOU. Therefore, if you CAN provide care where your name is indicated,
1) please select a new color for it (NOT BLACK)
2)change your name's color everywhere it appears
3) save the document
4) send it back to me.
If you CANNOT provide care where your name is indicated, please try to choose a slot with the red word AVAILABLE, and replace it with your name in BLACK.
Then save the document and send it back to me, and I will try to sort through the schedule once again.
I spoke with Don again this evening. He said Linda was so happy when she heard she could come home-- it was like the best Christmas present ever. He sounded tired but very grateful and pleased.
I'd like to say that even though I am coordinating the schedule, there is room for everyone. If it is important for you to volunteer, even for a short time, let me know-- or simpy come by the house.
The rules are that there must be two people there (Don + 1) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The person who is scheduled to be there for hospice care MUST STAY AWAKE. However, there can certainly be other people there during these times. The schedule offers Don commitments to make this possible.
If you need to change your time, please contact me at 341-9232 AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. I do have a stream of medical student volunteers standing by to come at the last possible minute, God Bless Them. PLEASE do not forget your time, or neglect to find a replacement if you cannot go at your time. Dereck and I are the pinch-hitters-- we will make sure with our own bodies that someone is always there when they need to be.
A few more words about care: Ellie will be around, so those of you who come during the day will also be providing some Ellie care. A decision to bring a child might be beneficial to Ellie.
One thing, the most difficult thing, to remember is that Linda's condition is going to worsen over time. She has maybe five days to a week of cognition left before the morphine is increased to levels that make her just cease to care, and she will be consious less and less. For those of you who volunteer between the hours of 4 p.m. and 7 a.m., she will probably be asleep most if not all of the time you are there. And when one of us is there, Linda is going to die. I admit that I do not know exactly what to expect-- but I plan to do some reading to prepare myself. If you are there at this time and you don't think that you can handle it, please call me immediately and I will come.
No one, of course, knows exactly what will happen when. This is a beautiful, amazing thing we are privileged to partake in. Thank you.
Meals
So that Don does not have to shop or worry about meals, I would love to establish a schedule of meals. The simplist thing to do, probably, is to plan to bring one meal for every shift you have volunteered for. For those of you who would like to provide a meal, and are not on the schedule, call me and I will coordinate it-- or just bring something by.
Linda will be home late tomorrow afternoon. Ellie will stay home from daycare and be there when the hospital bed arrives, and have time to become acclimated to it before Linda comes home.
Don and Linda live on Boundary Street. Go West on Hamilton Street until you get to Boundary. Go LEFT. Go SOUTH for about a mile and a half? It's a WHITE house on the LEFT side of the road. The number is 23192, and there is a barn right there next to the house, and another house beside it.
Thank you to Karen and Sarah for getting pretty sheets :).
Fundraiser
Royce has secured, for free, the top floor of the Dukum from the generous owner, Craig. Craig is providing a keg, also. The date is Friday February 20, beginning at 6 pm. There will be music, friends, etc., and we are PROHIBITING SMOKING ON THE TOP FLOOR.
Royce will be printing out tickets for the fundraiser in the next day or so, and we'll give you more information about the suggested donation. We are also going to have Don establish a special account at his bank for this, and we will tell you later which trust checks can be made out to.
Don will have a minimum of $3000 in medical bills, not to mention childcare to provide for the next three years at least. We are hoping to raise at least $3000 at this fundraiser-- the Dukum will hold 150 people.
Thank you again for your amazing love and support.
Jen
p.s. There will be an article in The Index Thursday 2/12/04. The reporter interviewed Dereck and I among others, and I called Don and told him what the article will contain, and he gave his permission. The reporter was genuinely anxious to provide an article that Don and Linda would be happy with. If she does not honor this intention, I will be furious, and that's not a good idea right now. But I did want you to be prepared for the article, and to know that it is being done with Don's knowledge and approval.
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