Michael Crumbaugh

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Just to give a quick update. Michael has stage 4 prostate cancer that has metastisized to the bones and is in his brain and stomach.  He has been in Bethesda Meadows for rehab since Nov 13. He has been going through radiation which ended on Nov 25. Since then his strength has slowly diminished which isn't uncommon after radiation. They expected his strength to start to show improvement this week but that was not the case.  


Saturday he had a good day of sitting in his recliner and talking but Sunday through Wednesday he began declining. He has been struggling with swallowing food the past couple weeks but it advanced to the point that he had to go to an all liquid diet.   Tuesday night I (Kathy) went to see him and he was not doing well at all. Did not want to talk or eat anything. Dave saw him Tuesday morning before he left on his trip and was deeply concerned. Wednesday evening I stopped in again to check on him and he was laboring to breathe and there were definite signs of dehydration. I called Dave and we made the decision to get him to the hospital. 


He is now in ICU at Mercy Hospital   He is extremely dehydrated and is septic.  The Drs are treating him with antibiotics and has received 2 pints of blood this morning. It breaks my heart to hear him cry out for water.  He can have ice cubes to suck on today which is a treat for him since last night they could only swab his mouth