It is with a heavy heart that I pass on the sad news that my mum finally
lost her battle with PSP and it's complications last Wednesday (Oct 3) a
couple of days after her 85th birthday.

I would have posted sooner only on the morning of her death and oblivious to news of her deterioration, our land line and consequently, Internet connection was literally ripped down by a road traffic accident outside our house. Quite how a lorry can lose control in a 30mph zone, cross the central line, take out a parked van-help it along the road for 200yds and fold it in half, and scatter debris the like of which you normally only see on a race track is beyond me. Blacking out at the wheel and then being left chatting with the police having been checked over the by the paramedics does however provide suspicions....Either way it has taken a week to put right and so here I am able to link up once more.

Sue and I had planned to visit her on that day as after our visit on her birthday it was clear that time was now not on our side, or mums for that matter. We arrived around 2pm not aware that the hospital had been frantically trying to contact us and/or my brother that morning to let us know her demise was imminent.

My brother works nights and with no-one else in his house, hadn't heard any phone ringing. We of course were cut off by the time they'd switched their
attentions to us and they hadn't been passed any mobile phone number details
when my mum had been transferred to them.

We were brought quickly up to speed, saw for ourselves how bad things had got and contacted my brother and his wife to get them there asap.

Her blood pressure had dropped a long way and her breathing was laboured. At
times she was agitated but our presence did seem to ease this even if she
couldn't communicate. After a couple of hours or so we called her local
vicar to see if she could come and give mum the Last Rites. Within 30 mins
she was there and giving her her Blessing and said a few prayers. Mum's
whole demeanour changed before our eyes and she visibly began to relax with
her breathing noticeably steadying. Slowly the breathing became more and
more shallow and her eyes began to close as if in sleep. This stood out as
the PSP had prevented normal eye blinking in these last few weeks.

Half an hour after her blessing at around 6.50pm I physically felt her slip away as she held on to my hand till the end. It must have been a relief after all the
suffering she'd gone through of late. It was perhaps the most moving
experience of my life to date and something I'll never forget.

Tears have been shed but we are fine and will be in good shape in time for
her cremation next Tuesday. At least she is back with Dad now.
posted by wollocks at 10:28 AM