Hello all,

This is Doug's daughter-in-law, Kim.  I wish I could be writing to you under better circumstances, but I hope to give you an idea of how things have gone for him since his last post.

As you know, on Monday, April 15, Doug and Diane met with his oncologist and learned that he was disqualified from participating in the clinical trial due to issues with his liver. Two days later he went in for a nerve block procedure to address the pain he's been having in his back.  The procedure was successful and he was able to get off of pain meds altogether which was a huge blessing. The procedure required that he be partially sedated and when he came home he was very exhausted.  We assumed that would wear off once the sedative wore off, but he was still worn out several days after the procedure.  We brought dinner over on Sunday (the 21st) and he was able to eat some food and visited with us for quite awhile.  We talked about memories and it was a wonderful night.  I could tell he was tired, but outside of that he seemed like himself.  

On Monday (the 22nd), his home healthcare nurse recommended a blood transfusion to replace some of the blood he lost from his labs the week before, so he spent the next day having that done.  But again, he was still very low on energy (or "amps", as Doug would say.)  Yesterday he was unable to get out of bed but was still able to communicate and his sense of humor was still well intact, even though he was kind of in and out of the conversation.  The nurse came again and after seeing him labor to breathe suggested that it was time for hospice to take over.  The hospice nurse came and Doug told her that he was ready to go.   So far today, Doug has not woken up.  He's resting peacefully and doesn't seem to be experiencing any pain, but he is not responsive.  

I know Doug has touched many, many lives and that this is hard on a lot of people, myself included.  I'm sorry that we can't call all of you personally and update you on everything.  However, I have a great desire to keep as many of you informed as possible because I know that it's easier to grieve when you understand what is going on, so I will continue to update the blog if things change.  Although Doug can't respond, if you write a comment here or send me an email (kimi.wilson@hotmail.com) we'll read your messages to him while he rests in the hopes that he can hear and feel of your love.

We want to thank all of you for your love and prayers in ours and Doug's behalf.  We have all felt buoyed up during this time.  And thank you for honoring the family's wishes for privacy.  I know how hard it is to allow them that because we all feel drawn to them.  But if you know Doug, you know how loved he is by so many people and dealing with that could be overwhelming as his family is trying to wrap their heads around what is happening.  Though he's been dealing with cancer for a long time, we've always been hopeful that he would beat it, and even when we knew that he likely wouldn't, we still wanted to believe that he had good days ahead of him where he could visit and enjoy time with friends and loved ones, so this is quite an adjustment.

Thank you again for all of your love.  It is not lost on us!