January 2, 2024

Cheers to 2024! John has been fine since his fall/trip to the ER. They called me on New Years Eve and said John had fallen again, but wasn't injured. No trip to the ER this time! He hasn't shown any signs of the flu. The hospice nurse said he may have shown positive because of exposure to the flu. Or maybe he had a mild case. Maybe that contributed to his tiredness and resulting falls. John has been good the last few days, and has been less tired. We've walked outside a lot because the weather has been beautiful, and because I've been off work I've been able to be there in the daylight. I've noticed a decline in his speech. He speaks very little now. The other day I was there for about an hour and a half and I don't know if he used more that 10-12 words, despite me trying to engage him. It was the same today. I mentioned it to the nurse and she agreed. She said he didn't say 1 word to her today while she was there, and she tried to get him to respond to her questions. The loss of speech is a sign that he's moving toward the next stage - the 7th stage. This stage can last for years. Stage 7 is Severe Dementia, the final stage of the FAST - the Functional Assessment Staging Test. He's not quite there yet, but he's on the cusp. Stage 7 includes losing speech, losing the ability to walk, then sit up, then smile, then losing the ability to hold up their head. Today when I walked into John's room I immediately noticed his roommate is on oxygen. Lately his roommate is no longer taken to meals in a wheelchair, but has been fed some food or shakes while in bed. Yesterday he seemed to choke a bit and struggled to breathe, so the oxygen today makes sense. A priest was also there to see him. I always say hi to him when I'm in the room, but for the most part try not to disturb him so he can sleep. Today, I talked to him a bit and then prayed for him, and for his family. All signs point to that fact that he is fast approaching the end of this horrible journey.