Slowing down

Derek has been slowly but steadily slowing down.  He has not talked in a few days and really only communicates with very small nods and an occasional squeeze from his "good" hand.   But in reality, he is weak everywhere. And he seems to be able to do less and less as each day passes.

Because of his lack of ability to move, Angela and I roll him every few hours.  We even set an alarm to wake us up a few times over the night to roll and move him. 

Derek woke up pretty warm this morning.  Our A/C unit seems to have stopped working last night.  Last night it was getting humid, so before we went to bed, I turned the A/C down a little.  Well, it is just as humid this morning.  A/C not working. :-( 

I can tell Derek is still there, so it must be frustrating for him to not be able to move his body or communicate his needs.  We are working on ways to communicate, but he is losing his abilities to communicate via any method, fast.  So we are trying to guess what he needs.  But it is hard. 

I wish I could read his mind.

Even though Derek is weak, he still firmly holds on to the Cross! 

It is my opinion that he is communicating two things to everyone: 

1) He is telling us and assuring us, that he is holding on to the cross. 

2) As reminder to everyone that we all need to hold on to the promise of the cross.

That's all for now,

Zell