Well, today, Saturday Sept 18th we are back in Claremont. Paul's trip to Aspen is in the rear-view and it feels a little incredible that we pulled it off; and a little sad that it is over.
While in Aspen Dad really seemed to enjoy gazing at the beautiful fall colors and soaking up the warm mellow sunshine through the open orange doors a few feet from his bed, with Zorro keeping him company curled up between his legs. Paul slept most of Monday and Tuesday recovering from the party on Sunday, and unfortunately, he began to feel the effects of the high altitude. It was a good thing we were not staying any longer than one week. Wednesday evening, the night before leaving, was really special when Sandy and Mary Lynn Munro and Garrett (my husband) played guitar, upright base and autoharp for Paul. He would watch for awhile, then close his eyes and drift off for a bit, then contentedly watch again before dozing off once more...a very sweet send off!
Paul is very tired and sleeping a lot now, but hopefully fulfilled....
Best,
Steph and Pam
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Surprise....
We are in Aspen! A couple of weeks ago I realized Dad was continuing to "pine" for our home in Aspen. Paul was not able to go home for the summer because of the high altitude and the lack of good hospice care; there are only a few caregivers who serve 600 square miles!
So after talking with Pam and a close friend Gregory, we decided that between the three of us, we could take Paul to Aspen for 1 week. We began making plans to take Paul Home. I rented an RV from Cruise America, we got all of Paul's medical ducks in a row and Pam in her amazing way, organized Paul's daily routine for travel. Gregory is a professional driver and has been helping to get Paul out of bed, so he would be our driver while Pam and I would tend to Paul. With the help of Kirk, T and John in Claremont, we managed to depart August 9th at 7:30 PM with Paul in a reclining bed that Gregory ingeniously devised using a blow up mattress and pump to raise and lower the head of the bed in the RV. It worked beautifully, making it easy for Paul to lie back and sleep, or sit up to drink his smoothies. We drove through the desert during the evening and arrived in Mesquite around 1:30AM, slept til 9:00AM and were on the road by noon after dealing with a blown fuse in the RV. We arrived in Aspen around 11:00 PM. Another good friend, Sam helped us get Paul out of the RV and into bed. Paul was HOME.
Saturday was spent resting, with Zorro his cat by his side much of the time. By Sunday afternoon Paul was surrounded by a gathering of his close Aspen friends, laughing, eating, drinking, sharing stories, making connections...he smiled happily, dozed off from time to time and had a lovely day.
Today he is resting comfortably and sleeping a lot. We hope to get him out of bed and into his wheelchair later so he can enjoy the rest of our home.
We will see what Tuesday and Wednesday bring, Thursday we leave to drive back to Claremont arriving by Friday afternoon.
So far this trip has been everything we could have hoped for.
Steph, Pam and Gregory
We are in Aspen! A couple of weeks ago I realized Dad was continuing to "pine" for our home in Aspen. Paul was not able to go home for the summer because of the high altitude and the lack of good hospice care; there are only a few caregivers who serve 600 square miles!
So after talking with Pam and a close friend Gregory, we decided that between the three of us, we could take Paul to Aspen for 1 week. We began making plans to take Paul Home. I rented an RV from Cruise America, we got all of Paul's medical ducks in a row and Pam in her amazing way, organized Paul's daily routine for travel. Gregory is a professional driver and has been helping to get Paul out of bed, so he would be our driver while Pam and I would tend to Paul. With the help of Kirk, T and John in Claremont, we managed to depart August 9th at 7:30 PM with Paul in a reclining bed that Gregory ingeniously devised using a blow up mattress and pump to raise and lower the head of the bed in the RV. It worked beautifully, making it easy for Paul to lie back and sleep, or sit up to drink his smoothies. We drove through the desert during the evening and arrived in Mesquite around 1:30AM, slept til 9:00AM and were on the road by noon after dealing with a blown fuse in the RV. We arrived in Aspen around 11:00 PM. Another good friend, Sam helped us get Paul out of the RV and into bed. Paul was HOME.
Saturday was spent resting, with Zorro his cat by his side much of the time. By Sunday afternoon Paul was surrounded by a gathering of his close Aspen friends, laughing, eating, drinking, sharing stories, making connections...he smiled happily, dozed off from time to time and had a lovely day.
Today he is resting comfortably and sleeping a lot. We hope to get him out of bed and into his wheelchair later so he can enjoy the rest of our home.
We will see what Tuesday and Wednesday bring, Thursday we leave to drive back to Claremont arriving by Friday afternoon.
So far this trip has been everything we could have hoped for.
Steph, Pam and Gregory
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