Planning for a Funeral

These are my thoughts from this morning--before Mark, Kathryn, and Karen (Mark's sister) got to the hospital....

Mark is sad, very sad. I can hear it in his voice every time I talk to him. But, I can also hear in his voice that his being there right now was the right decision. I'm glad that I convinced him to go. He's glad he can be there.

This is my understanding of the situation right now. They (the hospital staff) have been trying to get Ron off the ventilator, to see if he can breathe on his own and to see if there is any hope. They have also been trying to get him out of the coma. Neither of those attempts seems to be working very well.

Mark said something about brain damage--that they want to see if Ron has any brain damage. If he does, then they are even more certain that he's gone.

Mark said that Ron is swollen with retained fluids. Mark said Ron's face has lost most of the wrinkles because of swelling.

I guess they aren't sure WHEN they will actually take Ron off the life support, because they are still hoping that they don't have to plan a funeral. But, at the same time, they are all talking about it too. This is a worry of Mark's--that he won't be able to be there for the funeral. On the other hand, we both think that this was a better time for him to go to Washington--before the baby comes and before they actually took Ron off. If that makes sense. We'll still have to see how the timing with everything works out, because things might change--they could change any second.

This is from about 10:00 my time...

Mark just sent me a text. They (Mark, Kathryn, and Karen (Mark's sister)) are at the hospital. He said, "Things aren't good. His heart is failing too." I said, "What's going to happen?" His reply, "We're discussing and crying."

Thoughts from about 10:45 my time....

Mark just texted. He said he gave Ron a final blessing. They are going to turn the machines off as soon as the doctor comes in and they have a chance to talk to the doctor.

I called Mark. He actually sounds kind of relieved. He doesn't sound as burdened as he did this morning when I talked to him.

Mark said Ron's heart rate is really, really low. And his blood pressure is below 100.

Mark said they will try and have the funeral early next week. So he'll be staying up there a couple more days. I don't know about whether or not I'm going. (1) I can't handle the drive. (2) I don't know if an airline would let me fly right now.