Yesterday at work , I received word from my sister that Dad is being put on hospice. I left work shortly thereafter, and I caught a flight this evening to Portland.

I guess it started about a week and a half ago. Dad had a couple of falls within a few days of each other, and then he started hallucinating. Last weekend, he got up in the wee hours of the morning thinking he was escorting some foreigners out to their car and then he couldn’t get back into the house. He went over to a neighbor’s house and they helped him get back home. The next morning, Elaine took Dad to the hospital.

They tested Dad and found out he had a high white blood count and they thought he had an infection. They ran more tests and X-rays and CT scans, and finally yesterday, Elaine texted my sister that they had just been told that Dad has Acute Myeloid Leukemia and the doctors recommended he go on hospice. He’s going to be sent home tomorrow morning. A hospital bed and some other medical equipment was delivered today. Elaine has been staying with Dad day and night in the hospital, so I came into an empty house.

When I left Tucson this evening, the weather was in the 70’s. It’s a little cooler in Oregon! I was sitting next to a Cuban who didn’t speak much English, so I used what little Spanish I remember along with gestures to communicate with him. Needless to say, it was a fairly quiet trip!

I’m looking forward to seeing Dad and Elaine tomorrow. I’m hoping that hospice will show me what I need to do to help take care of Dad.

Please pray for my family as we go through this.