Samantha is resting comfortably now. The episode has passed, and the nurse believes that some of the fluid she aspirated has been reabsorbed.

I didn’t know that could happen. We are really thankful that the nurse was here when it happened. It was scary – she was wheezing and coughing and turning blue/purple. But now that has passed. She’s got so many secretions/mucus that is getting thicker and her ability to swallow and protect her airway has been compromised. So from now on she’ll get all of her feedings through the tube. In addition, we will be giving the meds that keep her secretions down around the clock, and giving the morphine round the clock too. And we will be trying to suction her frequently to help her.

Hospice is checking to see if our insurance covers round the clock care and if they have nurses available to work. Meanwhile our regular nurse is making herself available to us this weekend even though she doesn’t usually work weekends.

We are so thankful the nurse was here for this episode. She was able to talk us through the necessary care steps and explained to us that she doesn’t have a reserve of energy etc. to recover from things like that very easily. And she doesn’t have the strength to cough it up. She said we will notice things like that taking longer for her to recover from. We keep hoping that she will just go in her sleep instead of having such a difficult time breathing before she goes. But “we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.” I think that’s quoted correctly.

Keep praying. Samantha is still with us but this is more signs that the end is closer.