Mike’s Story

Site created on November 30, 2015

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.


Hi all.  If you are seeing these updates you are part of our friends and family network, and regardless of what is happening with us at any given time I can tell you without hesitation that we love each and every single one of you dearly.  Each of you have enhanced our lives and have made it more complete than it would have been without you!  Mike and I, have always and still today consider ourselves so very very blessed to be surrounded by so much love and support.  We will never be able to find enough words to thank you each for all the great times, support in tough times and overall love and laughter you have shared with us.  Please know that despite there not being enough words to express it, that it is felt deeply in our hearts.

That said, it is important to us that we be as transparent as possible with the progression of his disease and have decided that since we no longer have clinic appointments to trigger sending updates, and since things are changing more rapidly these days that we should start using this platform as a central location to share information.  Here you will be able to check in and get the most current information on what is going on with his health as often as you like.   You will notice I have added most of the older posts we sent after clinic appointments so you can remind yourself of his journey thus far.  The last post is an update of what has been going on since September when I quit working.  Going forward, we will update whenever there is something significant happening.  If you didn't already, you can set your account to send you emails when we create an update OR you can just log in whenever you want and see if there is any news you haven't previously seen.  

We love you!  We are blessed to share our lives with you!!  We are grateful for your love and support!!!

Newest Update

Journal entry by Shannon Slobotski

So the new bed didn’t work as we had hoped it would.  Unfortunately the air mattress is too soft for me to move him once I set him in it.  He sinks right down into it whereas in a firmer mattress he sits on top and I’m able to turn and shift him to get him settled where he needs to be.  

Last night we did take the top air mat off the bed and put it in his wheelchair.  It’s the part that keeps air pumping through it so that pressure points are constantly changing.  We went to bed at 1:00, back up at 2:00 and then after adjustments etc back to sleep at 3:30.  Then he slept until 9:00.  That is the longest stretch in as long as I can remember.  That said he told me he didn’t think he slept well because he didn’t feel very rested this morning and even without meds he had been mostly dozing.  I told him it is either that he is overly exhausted from the stress and increased activity of the last two days or it is simply progression and he’s just going to sleep more now.  The hospice nurse told me yesterday that at this stage there is really nothing we can do that is wrong.  If he wants meds or feedings, give them.  If he doesn’t, don’t.  So finally Mike gets to be 100% in the drivers seat - after 23 years together he no longer has to take orders from me.  😜

About an hour ago he started coughing again, it wasn’t too bad but after the hour long episode he’s quick ask for the morphine and lorazepam (anxiety med) to prevent it from escalating.  He can take both every 15 minutes until the stress of it passes and he can relax.  He took 2 doses and is now resting soundly.  

Unless anything significant happens between now and then my next update will be sometime this weekend.  

Love to all!  😘😘
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