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I was doing hospice volunteer work yesterday and Harold Woodley my new 103 year old friend died last night. I went over after work and he was not feeling very well…he was periodically vomiting. I met his niece, Joanie, on her way out the door for the evening..she said that he had not been feeling well all day and the doctor who was there earlier advised prune juice and some drug concoction. There was a nurses aid in the house when I arrived who was schedule to be there until 9:30pm and the TV’s were blaring everywhere. I turned off the TV in his room and turned down the TV in the living room. I sat with him and helped try to talk him through regulating his breathing in hopes that calming him down might settle his stomach a bit. His pain seemed to go in waves and eventually started to get progressively worse. I told the aid to call the hospice and I called his niece and told her to come back as he could not stay by himself after the aid left. The niece came back and one of the hospice nurses shortly followed. She gave him a small dose of morphine and a suppository for the nausea and hooked him up to oxygen. He was pretty alert the whole time even when the morphine kicked in. At one point he said “I’m 103 and this is my life.” Even through all that he had a bit of a dry sense of humor. I could tell he was exhausted and was in and out but couldn’t sleep soundly. He kept telling me he was sorry I was seeing him in that condition. No problem man, I said, we all get sick. At around 9:45 when it looked like he was going to sleep I decided to leave. I walked out with his niece (she was going out for a cigarette) and got down to the lobby and realized I had forgotten my sweater. I went back upstairs into his room to get it and he was calling out and the aid and nurse could not hear him in the next room. I sat down with him and held his hand and he kept saying I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go. So I held his hand and wiped his brow and told him that it was ok to let go that he would be ok…its ok man…its ok…just let go..its ok…its ok. He was trying to say hail mary’s but he was having a hard time breathing (which is why he kept waking up). I sat with him for another 45 mins and the nurse came in and gave him some more morphine as per her schedule to try to calm him and used some type of respiratory tool to help get his airwaves opened. He seemed to calm down and fade out again around 11. I told Joanie I would come by this morning and work from the apt if she needed a break or after work..whatever she needed. After I went to bed, Joanie called and left a msg at midnight last night telling me that he died right after I left.
I only got to spend a few sessions with him….when I went there last night I brought a pad of paper because I was going to ask him alot of questions about his life and do some writing. I was really looking forward to spending time with him and hearing more about his life…the couple of hours that I spent with him last Sunday were amazing. As life would have it, that didn’t happen as I expected. But I am so deeply honored to have spent the last few hours of Harolds life with him. He was really an amazing guy.

Bush is a fascist, McCain is a fascist, everyone is a fascist…..its nice that you can use one word to denigrate anyone who disagrees with you.

God, Rick, you’re such a fascist.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/23/networks-revolt-against-r_n_128608.html