As those of you who have followed Sheri's journey know, she taught herself photography so that she had a hobby she could do with Bob and "Al". Well recently Sheri entered a local photography contest for the city she lives in. She is excited to say she made it into the finals!

If you care to view my picture and if you like it, give it a like! The link is below! It is the photo called Blue Heron Breakfast. The big bird with the fish in its mouth!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=cityofedenprairie&set=a.922694283237586

Thank you for all your support!

Sheri

Sheri is trying to learn to that it is okay to share the gifts God has given her. She had her photos/canvas display Open House at the coffee shop over the weekend. Sheri knows she would have never pursed photography had she not been so lonely and struggling so hard to find something she could do with Bob and "Al". God always has a plan... whether we know it or not.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 27

As the days dwindled down, Sheri and the girls watched Bob's earthly body deteriorate, and everyday was one step closer to total healing for "the boys". One day, in one very quick moment, Sheri was sure she saw Bob make eye contact with her. She saw the only eye that was slightly open, follow hers as she spoke to him comforting him, loving him, reassuring him. In that moment she knew Bob was close to being whole.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 26

The workers at the facility were trying hard to help Sheri and the girls. They let them use one of the model apartments to sleep in as there was not enough room for the three of them to sleep in the room with "the boys". This was a huge help because this way they could stay with Bob in shifts while the others got some sleep. They brought in trays of food in at no charge... Sheri was very grateful, and on Monday when the higher ups saw the "storage room" they were in they quickly moved the stacks of cabinets to a different location, and apologized profusely. This gave the family room to spread out. Sheri and the girls were grateful for the kind treatment.
Philippians 4:6: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end chapter 25

Bob and "Al" were in a shared room, and because both of her daughters and their husbands were there constantly, they allowed Bob and "Al" to move to another room they needed privacy desperately. The faculty only had one other room available, they were using half of the room for storage of new kitchen cabinets stacked double high that were to be installed next week. The smell of fresh wood, stain and cardboard permeated the room. Has they have done so many times before on this very long journey, Sheri and the girls had tearful giggles knowing that Bob, the fix anything, build any thing man was right at home, these were smells that Bob would not have found offensive, as Bob the man who managed a hardware store and mixed paint all day, was very familiar with. The irony of the situation brought more laughter, that was really grief running down their faces.

Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Living with Bob and "Al"

 The beginning of the end chapter 24
Sheri was overwhelmed, scrambling to make funeral arrangements.She had know idea how expensive a funeral was.  All in for casket burial $12,000.00 dollars with the least expensive casket. One funeral director  (who could tell Sheri was trying to be practical ) told Sheri to come to come back after he passed. Sheri felt like he thought she would by a more expensive casket in her grief.
At any rate, Bob had lost the ability to swallow and the expected date went from 10 days to 2 or three in the blink of an eye. 

2 Corinthians 4:16

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 23
 
After the last call saying "the boys" had 2 or three months, it seemed like each day a new call came with the news of the Bob and "Al" fading quickly. Hospice was wonderful and Sheri felt comfort in their experience and calmness. From the initial evaluation of an unknown time frame... we were down to ten days. Sheri's heart was hurting but knew "the boys" needed to be free of this awful disease. 
 Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there will be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end chapter 19

Hospice evaluated  "the boys". At first evaluation they thought "they" were in pretty rough shape, Sheri reminded them that he was still under a tremendous amount of drugs. Hospice agreed to reevaluate the next day. When they came back the next day they were surprised to see the "the boys" a little more alert and trying to swallow while being fed. The head hospice nurse said was glad to see him rebound a little. She thought it could be 3-6 months, and explained that everyone is different.
Sheri took a deep breath.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 18

Sheri and the girls met with hospice, there were two people from hospice there. They were wonderful. They listen carefully and understood Sheri's concerns about recent events and explained that now everything would go through them. "the boys" would now get music therapy, massage therapy, and hospice nursing care. Sher felt a sense of relief, and the fog lifted enough to pause, praise and pray.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri has been taking a little break from recounting the beginning of the end with Bob and "Al". Although she believes it is really helping her to go through this process Sheri believes she is experiencing something that she likens to PTSD. So she did what she does to help with her stress, she got out very early before work with her camera. The fog was beautiful.. and quite appropriate for Sheri's state of mind.
Isaiah 41:10
 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

 

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 17

As it turned out, hospice could not get there until about 1:00 in the afternoon. Sheri was past drained, tired, a better description would be numb and zombie like. She had called daughters one and two and explained what was happening. They both headed out to the facility and were there for the meeting with hospice. Such beautiful, grown up young ladies God has blessed Sheri with. 

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 16

After assuring the aid that she did the right thing, She explained that she had a meeting with hospice in the morning. The aid was teary eyed, and Sheri settled in to chair in 'the boy's" room , to wait out the rest of the night/morning until hospice would arrive. The aid went on about her routine, it was not long after the aid left the room that the tears in the aides eyes started running down Sheri's cheeks.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 15

Sheri assured the women she did the right thing, and proceeded to explain to her the emergency room visit and all the tests Bob had done. The aid was fixing Bob's sheets and mumbled under her breath, "well that would have been nice to know."
Sheri took a deep breath, and then told herself to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 14

Sheri got to the faculty,  she was tired, she was confused, she was angry. The person that opened the door was not someone she had met before. She introduced herself to the staff member and quickly walked to Bob's room, Bob and "Al" were out cold as Sheri would have thought after all the medication the emergency room pumped into "them".  With in minutes the female staff member that let Sheri in, came into the room. Sheri's blood was nearing the boiling point. Out of the comer of eye she could see this the soul of this woman. She looked very sad, and started apologizing for calling Sheri.  She said I have been caring for Bob on overnights the whole time he has lived here, he is my buddy, he follows me around at night, this is just not like him, as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Though her tears and shaken voice she said, "I just did not want to do the wrong thing". Sheri new in that moment that this woman had know idea that Bob and "Al" had been in the hospital all those hours. This was not this sweet woman's fault, there was clearly a major breakdown in communication. 
The system is broken.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 13

Sheri quickly called back the number. Sheri said who she was and apologized for missing the calls and inquired about what was happening. She replied that they were sending him over to the emergency room, because he was not responding to the staff , that he had a bloody discharge coming out of his male parts and that usually he is way more alert. Sheri held her tongue, well somewhat. in a tone that was pretty much yelling into the phone "Absolutely not! We just spent 8 hours there! I am meeting with hospice in the morning !" (All the while Sheri is holding her cell phone up by her shoulder as she scrambled to get dressed ) The on call nurse said "I see the notes... but he is not on hospice yet , so we have to address the staffs concerns." Sheri finally pulled up her big girl panties and said "you are not sending him anywhere, I am 30 minutes away, I will be there and stay with him until hospice comes to meet with me in the morning, do NOT send him to the hospital! "

Sheri needed to pause, praise and pray. She did not. She was reliving the past 24 hours and was struggling to fight back tears so she could drive.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 12

Sheri tried to unwind on the 30 minute drive home. She was so tired she was afraid she might fall asleep behind the wheel and she felt numb inside and out. She got home about 10 pm and collapsed onto the bed. She woke up at 3:30 am to find she had missed 4 calls from the nurse that was on call.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter10

The doctor enter the room, Sheri was more than exhausted, "the boys" were zombied out from all the meds. The doctor said after reviewing all the tests there was no apparent reason for the changes. Sheri chimed in (probably a little more sarcastically then her normal polite self)  and said "you mean other than the fact that he is 10 plus years into this disease?" The doctor nodded in agreement. She offered to admit him for further evaluation and before the doctor had even finished her comment, Sheri stopped her and with tears in her eyes said "No. No! there would be nothing they would find that Sheri would approve treatment for at this stage of the disease, so absolutely not. " The doctor said she agreed with that decision and said they would write the order for hospice care, she said someone would call her in the morning to sign the paperwork. They set up the ambulance to take "them" back to the faculty. Before they left , the male nurse that had been so gruff at the beginning of the night came over to Sheri and asked if he could give her a hug. Sheri was taken aback, but then he said "the staff and myself have been watching and listening to you care for your husband all evening, we have all been in awe of your patience and care of him." he and several others gave her a hug.
 Sheri sat in her car, her heart heavy, defeated, and numb, but Sheri knew God was present thru the afternoon and evening, and she knew He was in the car with her as well, she was just not able to see Him through her tears.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end Chapter 9

The chest x-ray came back with a small amount of fluid in Bob's lungs, but apparently nothing to be too concerned about. By the time the results of the Brain CT scan came back it was a 8:30pm. Now because of all the drugs they had given "the boys" Bob and "Al" were pretty much catatonic. Sheri waited for the results of the last test, and when the doctor came in Sheri took a deep breath, and waited for what ever she was going to say next.

Living with Bob and "Al"

The beginning of the end chapter 4

Amidst Sheri's frustration and anger, she asked the male nurse to please come in and help her get Bobs leg out of the railing. He said he would be right there, in the mean time Sheri had to dodge what was quickly becoming a very agitated "Al's" grabbing anything he could, hands. When the nurse came he started telling Bob in his not so pleased stern nurse voice, that he needed to lie down and rest, and he was going to start an IV. Sheri tried to explain the degree of his disease, and that he does not understand what you are telling him... just so he would know why "the  boys" were not following his s"rest" instruction, but the nurse snapped at her and said "Yes, but we still talk to them like people."
 Sheri's heart hurt.

Living with Bob and "Al"

 The beginning of the end Chapter 3


Finally after Sheri's continual persistence , they let her go back to the room. The curtain was drawn and when she drew it back, there was "Al" by himself with Bobs' eyes closed and jaw clenched tight ... and one leg stuck through the railing trying desperately to get out of the tangled mess of the hospital bed.
Sheri had to hold her tongue.