I Was Wrong About The Hospice Pastor

Nana.
Nana Angelina.
My godmother. My grandmother. My hope.

It was the end.
Amidst all the family dysfunction, I sat alone.
In the pew behind my boy and his uncle and cousins.

Everything looked beautiful.
And the pastor rose to speak.
I cringed inside, for the last time at my grandfather's funeral he praised him for his service to our country…but he had fought on the Italian side, not the States…a eulogy from a man he never knew.

I had sat with her the days before she passed.
Understanding everything that happened inside her body as it turned into a corpse.
My nana, my beloved nana, breathed her last in my presence, in Peace.

You can imagine my impatience with a man of the cloth, who had never seen this--my going with her through the tunnel of Light to see our Lord and Our Lady, and my Grandfather (http://reikidoc.blogspot.com/2013/11/what-i-just-saw-with-my-third-eye.html)--speak to comfort us.

I sat alone in my grief.
And he opened his mouth.
He knew her before she died, where she used to sit, outside Nurse Station Three.
And she smiled at him in greeting, every time.

I listened with interest as he described what she saw as she 'crossed over'.
It was right.
Except for my being present in Spirit to accompany her.

Even 'the appointment' Blessed Mother alluded to, the reason she 'had to go'
was explained by the pastor: Jesus took her to meet God.
My grief was not lost on this man--I could tell he knew how my life had been--
my entire existence as a part of this family; how I had lost my only comfort and hope.

He said 'memories are a connection between the deceased loved one in Heaven and our Hearts.'
Then, after asking permission from mother, took roses out from the spray on the casket for each member of the family.
He reminded us that every time we look at the flower in our home, we could remember it as nana's gift to us--and heal in our grief over her.

As he handed out the roses in the mausoleum, his hand moved with the familiar pill-rolling motion…
I knew his secret!
And the reason for his compassionate Love.
He suffers too.

Just like us.

And it is beautiful, the Heart that can reach past the suffering to console others in their loss.

http://youtu.be/0xwzItqYmII

I have had nightmares that woke me up screaming in the middle of the night ever since I was nine.

They were about the passing of nana.

I am okay.

Your prayers and Reiki helped immensely.

And she gave me the gift of her last breath.

Just like I gave her the gift of my presence in those last hours on earth,

and her first moments in Heaven.

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

My Work With Nana Angelina: The Debriefing

Happy Birthday Nana. Today would have been your ninetieth birthday, but yesterday was your birthday in Heaven.

My niece Lauren was so sweet she made a birthday card and changed the day to yesterday so nana 'officially' made it to ninety. I placed that note in her hand, as my niece was too scared to come see the body.

Nana had a good death.

In medicine, there are 'good' ways to die that are relatively painless and easier on the body--nana had renal failure and sepsis (overwhelming infection). Lung disease deaths are one of the more uncomfortable ways to go. Cancer is in-between. I highly recommend hospice, especially 'bedside' hospice during the actively dying process. Hospice is helpful to prepare in advance, and also Death Midwivery is a new field of compassion to assist in this part of the circle of Life.


How I Helped Nana In The Physical:
I am a doctor. I've seen death many times before. I cleared my schedule on Saturday, and spent all day with my doctor's eyes and ears evaluating her. Early dying had begun. I agreed with hospice consultation, and spoke at length with the nurse about the psychosocial issues in the family unit (they are complex) and coordinated all of the needs for Nana.

I also gave comfort by doing cooling measures for the fever, touching nana's hair (she liked my stroking her head gently), and wetting her mouth and lips. I rubbed lotion on her, and sang her the very same lullabies she had once sung to me. They are Sicilian, and have a space at the end for the name of the baby. I added the names of every family member as I sang chorus after chorus of the song. She smiled, and her eyebrows raised and moved with interest, as each person's name came up.

After nana passed, I straightened up the gown and sheets, combed her hair, and placed her hands on the covers in a natural position. I closed her mouth, but the wrinkles looked unnatural, and decided for her to keep it open for the family. I also took the nasal cannula oxygen off.

How I helped Nana in The Mental:
Nana clearly did not know she was dying. She was confused at the start because she was hungry and feeling awful. The bulk of the work I did on her behalf was being next to her, not leaving, and reassuring her every time she woke up that I was there and it was going to be okay and she was going to feel better.

I also explained every treatment that was given, and why. She had once wanted to be a schoolteacher, but was never allowed to complete her education past the sixth grade. A lot of my intelligence comes from her, and I respected her ability to understand. Although her memory was not functioning due to her Alzheimer's, she was 'in there' till the very end, and I spoke to her as such.

How I helped Nana in The Emotional:
Our family is dysfunctional. Let me make that with capital letters--DYSFUNCTIONAL. I won't go into the story, but I will let you know I actively made sure she was exposed to a minimum of discomfort from people in the family who could not step aside enough to put her needs first. With diplomacy and tact, I gently invited others to 'take a rest' and 'come back later'. This was fair because no one knew how long it would take, although the nurses said, 'soon'.

When she lost her gag reflex as I was suctioning her, I texted my sister and let her know nana was unconscious (just like in the O.R.) We arranged a time for her to come back.

I also let nana know what time I had to leave for work, and that she wouldn't be alone after, more were coming. I let her pick the time to 'go' herself; I left briefly to use the restroom, and I hoped she wouldn't take the time then to 'pass'. Thankfully, she was still breathing when I came back.

How I helped Nana in the Spiritual:
My sister agreed to The Last Rites. I was surprised at how much it moved me while the priest was giving them. I filmed it. (I actually took many photos, which will mean so much to me after she is buried. The ones I have of dad comfort me to this day...)

I also gave Reiki. Nana was catholic turned jihovaah wittnes (they routinely check the internet, and that's why I mis-spelled it. I don't want a comment from an official member. Not here.) So I put it in the water for her washclothes I used to cool her. Just so she could 'soak it up' but 'not get a huge dose' and keep the permission thing okay.

How I helped Nana in The Angelic Plane:
Let me be candid--there are a lot of things I do in Spirit that might not 'match' the human 'job description'.

• early on I negotiated with Blessed Mother and my Twin Flame for an easy Transition
• I met nana's guardian angel, Ahrene, and spoke with her
• I kept the energy in the room UP and filled with peace and love with my presence
• This 'held the space' for nana to do what she needed to do in her own way
• I left my body with her, and held her hand as her excitement got her into the white tunnel to Heaven. (I could see her recognize family members over the shoulders of Blessed Mother and Nannu Filippo).
• I kept quiet, and present, as she met Jesus Christ, who was waiting for her.
• I let her know who I really am, when asked by Jesus and Mother Mary, to show her
• I comforted her that it was still me. (She looked puzzled and said, 'all those times I took care of you and fed you, I was taking care of THIS? And I never knew?'. I turned back to my present form and smiled with love in my heart and said, 'yes'. Then I dropped to my knees filled with love and gratitude for her loving service to me, and to the cause--the Liberation Of The Planet, the Resistance. I do not know what I am--I have the amnesia--but I do know I have a light body that glows. Jesus and Mary did not glow last night, I don't think I have ever seen them glow. They are Ascended Masters plus other higher things I don't understand.)
• We arranged meeting opportunities between us from here on out. (This morning she woke me up and said, 'Grazie'. She looks like she did last night, about forty to fifty years, in the fashion she wore back then. Her hair is long and has a wave, and there is one barrette on the left that is gold.) 
• I let her go with Love and a beautiful pink/purple orchid lei to Heaven. She had never been to Hawaii, but she should have gone because she would have loved it. That was my spiritual 'gift' to her. 

People do not 'find their way to Heaven'. 

There is ALWAYS an angel present before, during, and after to guide them the entire way. 

Sometimes there are many angels, and they work together for the benefit of the soul.

Souls that do not make it to the Light decline the help of the angels who are sent to guide them.  Each has their reason, and the angel can only stay and wait for the soul rejecting them to change their mind.

Because of the energy difference in Vibration between here and Heaven, that is why Divine Assistance is needed. Once the angel is with the soul, the passage is easy, like riding on an elevator, and the transition is complete.

Aloha and Mahalos,

With much appreciation for your healing love for both of us, Nana and me, the last days,

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

End Of Life Decisions: What You Need To Know

This is me with Nana Angelina.

Things are a little 'sketchy' with insurance and long-term care facilities at the end of life.

I wish to shine Light on the situation to educate you.

In The Old Country:

• the elderly lived at the home of their children.
• people accepted them but neither paid too much or too little attention to them.
• they were part of the family.
• neighbors took care of those without family.
• at some point they would stop eating.
• dehydration set in.
• kidneys failed.
• in four days death was inevitable.
• the body was prepared by the women of the village.
• it lay in state in the living room and guests paid their respects.
• there was a funeral and a get-together afterward.

In The Hospital When I Was A Medical Student:

• The disease was considered incurable and end-stage.
• A durable power of attorney (medical decision maker, sometime patient themselves) was consulted about 'ending the suffering'.
• Decision was made to put patient on a morphine drip (comfort measures) and keep patient DNR (do not resuscitate).
• Nurse sets the iv up and keeps dialing it up every two hours.
• About eight hours later, the patient is apneic (stops breathing).
• Family is notified (many times they are not present).
• Body is sent to morgue and death summary note is dictated. All forms are completed.

With My Father Four Years Ago (He was a member of a Big Box Hospital Organization):

• Pulmonary Fibrosis is diagnosed (this is terminal condition, only 'cure' is lung transplant, he is not eligible due to age).
• Patient is 'optimized' with pulmonologist as long as possible, and treated for any infections.
• Disease is 'advanced' and patient is put on 'Palliative Care' (it is not exactly Hospice--aggressive care and hospitalization is still sometimes an option--which is done 'in home'. I read the booklets and found 'Palliative Care' to be a very murky subject which is highly based on the definition of the primary health care provider--which might be different from another provider's interpretation).
• A reader who is a hospice RN defines 'Hospice' as 'withdrawal from aggressive care.
• Cost may enter into this decision-making process, just as with the family they are asked 'do you want to do heroics?', the business entity providing the care must decide the cost-to-benefit ratio of further intervention for the disease.
• To my experience in ICU, there is a point where the outcome is clearly evident to all except perhaps the family, who wish 'to have everything done'. We honor this, although there are times there is a 'slow code' done in name only, as the disease is overwhelming and end-stage. (If a critical care specialist says it is time for DNR, they are basing this judgement on medical knowledge only, and not finances.)
• Once on Palliative Care, a patient is offered experimental drugs (this accelerated his decline).
• Weekly visits by chaplain begin at the home.
• All medicines are sent to the house, including oxygen.
• Weekly nurse visits instead of trips to the doctor start.
• At 'sudden decompensation' on-call hospice nurse comes and remains at bedside giving sublingual doses of concentrated narcotics and drying agents and anti-anxiety meds until patient passes.
• Body is left at home as long as family wishes until one or two days (I forget) then mortuary comes for the body.
• embalming if desired.
• funeral if embalmed, family viewing only if not embalmed.
• burial.

Death In The O.R.:

• Family and patient are informed of the risks before surgery by all members of care team--internist, surgeon, anesthesia, before going to surgery if risk is high.
• Often family and patient 'want their chance' at miracle 'save'.
• Sometimes quality of life is so bad patient has no other option (end-stage disease).
• Patient has 'event' and code blue is run by the O.R. team. 
• Anesthesia is the one who says, 'Start chest compressions' and announces the code. If patient is prone a gurney is brought in and we flip them on their back. A big plastic dressing covers the wound before turning.
• ACLS protocol is followed to the letter, unless Power Of Attorney says, 'no this or no that'.
• The code is called, usually by joint decision by surgeon and anesthesiologist.*
• All lines are left in place and the coroner is called.
• Coroner always asks to speak to me if there was 'anything unusual'.
• Coroner decides whether to come in or not. They usually do. (my heart surgeon pulled out the breathing tube always for the family before the coroner came)
• Surgeon talks to family. I make it a point to be present.
• Body is take to part of hospital where family can view and say first 'goodbyes'.
• Body is taken to morgue and then to the mortuary when they arrive.
• There is a big plastic body bag that zips up. (one Trauma Tech in the ER, when they heard the call about the accident due to arrive, would sometimes put that on the gurney first to save a step. The back-board would roll over it like it would a sheet.)
• All the forms are filled out by the surgeons.
• Anesthesia is expected to go back to work on the next case immediately after all charting is documented. No time is given to process the event. I typically call the hospital chaplain for a brief consolation for about five minutes max, just for my mental health.
• * -- I see the spirit of the patient in the room during the code blue and mentally communicate with it.

With Nana 2013:

• Durable power of attorney is called to a meeting to discuss end of life care with social worker--family is welcome.
• hospice is offered early with promise 'she will have her own nurse!'
• Family declines due to satisfaction with current level of care and 'gut feeling about it'.
• Family learns medicare pays one-hundred percent for hospice, both to hospice organization and facility. (hospice utilization has increased over two hundred percent in last few years in CA).
• By my assessment, what is keeping Nana alive is the LVN who feeds her. She mixes ice cream milk, and nutrition shake together because she knows 'Nana likes sweets'. She is patient and reminds Nana several times each mouthful to swallow in a loud voice.
• What is also keeping Nana alive is the excellent nursing care that keeps her skin healthy--no bedsores.
• Mother does not like the roommate Nana has had for a year. She arranges a room transfer.
• Nurse that feeds Nana does not work on this side of the facility--it's a whole different nursing station.
• Nana 'stops eating' on Friday.
• The physician says, 'Stop feeding her she aspirates'.
• Mother signs a form that says, 'comfort measures but antibiotics and i.v. fluids' on Friday.
• Nana gets i.v. fluids for one day.
• The next day, with me, no fluids are given.
• Nana says she is hungry.
• She can't open her mouth to eat. She milkshake concoction just sits in her mouth. She only swallows once or twice, and takes in about half a small cup.
• She spikes a temperature, gets tachypneic (fast shallow breathing), and starts getting puffy (signs of renal failure)
• Hospice nurse assesses her and says, 'she does not look good'.
• In facility Hospice = one nurse a week with daily visits to 'check progress', facility nurses giving 'comfort medicines--same as dad--' every two hours, weekends get 'on call nurse'.
• In case of 'fast decline', on call nurse comes in but does NOT remain at bedside.
• There is discussion of 'cost sharing' that is $1800 a month to the family. (I call my sister who is in charge of financials)
• After family signs consent to Hospice (no iv fluids or antibiotics--they like them 'dry' for a more comfortable death process) there is a four hour delay until first medication is given.

At first try to CONVINCE them.

If that does not work, then try to CONFUSE them.

If that does not work, then CON them.

 (an old Marketing aphorism)

My maid of honor at my first wedding was a Harvard Business School MBA. She said there are classes where they teach you how to manipulate people to do what is desired by management. Both for employees and for customers.

Guess who is running the show in Healthcare?

It ain't Obama!

LOL.

I hope you see the truth in end-of-life care, and make the most of this wonderful gift to each other in the time there is left with your loved one.

Aloha and Mahalos,

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

P.S. if it is any comfort to you, here is a description of what happens in the body as it dies: http://reikidoc.blogspot.com/2012/07/energetic-look-at-death-what-you-need.html

This is Nana Angelina's favorite opera--I grew up listening to opera at her house 

(Pagliacchi is the Italian word for 'clown'. )

The Gift Of Presence

Today I spent eight hours with my Nana Angelina in her nursing home. I sat right next to her bed. When she awoke, I smiled and gently spoke with her. When she slept, I put the cold towel on her forehead and sponged her arms and the back of her neck and face with cool water. Her fever was 101F.

She stopped eating last week. Today her 'adult pad' (the appropriate term for an adult diaper) was hardly wet. They changed it once. The nurses changed her position in bed twice.

Nana will be ninety-three this week. If she makes it. Her organs are shutting down slowly before my eyes, and her skin is losing its color over the course of the day.

The hospice nurse came. The doctor had ordered to stop all feeds because she aspirates (chokes) when she eats her thickened liquid meals. She can no longer take a pill.

I spoke with the nurse at length, and agreed to the arrangements. The nurse later drove to mom's house where my sister and mom were waiting to sign the forms.

I asked Nana, 'are you tired? are you Done? do you want to see Nannu?' and she just stared blankly back at me. Earlier in the day, when she first woke up, she recognized me and asked for a kiss. She also said she was hungry.

What do you do when a loved one is in the early process of death?

You sit.
You talk.
You hold hands.
You take photographs.
You cry.
You thank God for the time you have left.
You give permission 'to go'.

Alzheimer's is a disease that causes so much suffering!

What do you do when you are watching the one you love so much arrive at end-stage dementia?

And what do you do when you are Reiki Doc?

You surrender.
You accept.
You see Blessed Mother over Nana's left shoulder and your Twin Soul over her right, and negotiate and get reassurance from the Other Side that she will not suffer. They say, 'we'll take care of her'.
You have visions of unicorns who present Nana as a young woman to you, and later, as she will appear from The Other Side (as she did when I was about ten).
You ask the Unicorns (there were a lot of them in a field in the etheric plane that I saw with my mind's eye), very politely in their ear, about unicorn etiquette:
     How do you say 'thank you' to a unicorn the proper way?
You watch as that question touches them deeply. They think reply, 'Mahalo nui loa' is what we say.
You make flower garlands and ti-leaf leis (the open-ended kind) in spirit for the female and male unicorns and put them on and say 'mahalo nui loa' to each one. They act like they tolerate it but you know in your heart they appreciate the attention very much, and look them in the eye and smile.

The message that came through tonight was that all is not decided yet--she is 'thinking about it'.

I also, in the silence, felt our auras communicate profoundly in the Language of Light, Nana Angelina and myself.

You also thank the nurses and LVN's for the remarkable job they have done taking care of your loved one.

When was the last time I spent that much time with Nana? I don't think I ever have.

What was my happiest memory with Nana? Taking her to see the opera Pagliacci and watching her smile. I wish I had done that more often.

What is my biggest regret? That I didn't spend enough time with her.
Her spirit corrected me--in the Language of Light--and said I was not made for that kind of life where you are a homemaker like she was. She also let me know she understood, and was proud of me. And she never wants to see me cry.

Her life, compared to what it was, is really hard for her. When she was more alert, she was embarrassed at the 'adult pad' part. She hated the food, although she loved the 'formal' dining room. Although all the nurses love her, and make her smile, and come to see her even though they don't have to, Nana's existence is not what she ever had in mind.

But to spend a whole day just with her, in her suffering?

It's the gift of self that always gives back more in return.

I feel wonderful right now. Except for the part where I am going to at some time say, 'Good bye'.


Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Goodbye Uncle Rainy

Legend says at the center of a Celtic Cross time stands still

I walked in to the restaurant, and spied my cousin, who I have not seen since the last funeral. He welcomed me with open arms. Once, he had taken me out line dancing, and we talked about our divorces and swore to keep up. His wasn't the dad that passed. It was our mutual uncle.

His father, came next, and gave me a big hug. The family millionaire, made in real estate investments and flipping houses, this uncle gave the nicest hugs. I have since discovered that behind those hugs are some nasty skeletons in the family closet. But since I have only three Uncles left, and this one never laid a hand on me, I hugged him back and was genuinely glad to see him.

Next came the daughter, the middle child of the deceased Uncle Rainy, let us call her Bree. Childless, she married her childhood sweetheart around the time of Uncle Rainy's accident. Both the bride and the groom had fathers in wheelchairs at the wedding that was over thirty years ago. Uncle Rainy was a quadriplegic. I greeted her husband too. He is one who never looks you in the eye and is in sales.

Around this time I started to notice something odd. All three of the surviving children were not seated together. There were entire sub-family groups at far different tables!

Bree was at the one with my sister, my brother-in-law, and Crazy Uncle Dee. They were close, and were in close contact. We often saw Bree at our family events. Dee had glass after glass of alcohol at the table.

At the next table was Cousin Dick. He too had a drink in hand. I won't go into it, but apparently his name was, ah, rather 'matching' his personality? His children were across the room with their significant others. Their mother was cousin Susie, who has channeled messages to me once or twice in my book. There was a nasty divorce over his hooking up with a mother from his son's roller hockey team.  I met her, and was surprised she calls his kids 'her children' when last I knew, only a few years ago, they were all adults at the time of their bio mom's death. She raised them, single, for like, eight years since the divorce before succumbing to cancer. Her children were devastated by her loss, and have never recovered. They are civil with their dad.

There was a table with the relatives, the sister of the deceased and their family. I hadn't seen them for thirty years. It was nice to see them again.

The one I wanted to see was Annie. Annie is the cousin I was closest to at family gatherings. I had always felt sad for her. Annie had married a black man, and this did not go over well with the family back thirty years ago. She had two children, and there were rumors that the husband was a drug dealer and that she should leave him.

All I know is that Nanu threatened not to go to my wedding if I invited her.

If it wasn't for Facebook, I would not have had contact with her at all. And this has only been in the last three or four months.

When I saw Annie, she was the only one who was crying. She was so depressed. Her best friend sat with her. Both were drinking it up. Annie told me how her friend took her shopping to buy something new for the funeral. Annie had devoted her life to taking care of Uncle Rainy. But only at the end, the last five years. I didn't ask questions. 

She showed me a picture of her dad in the coffin. I was so glad to see him. It had been five years since I last made a trip to the house. 

The story she told would make you cry. 

You know, when people are near death, they are pretty uncomfortable the couple of weeks before. I remember my grandma (dad's mom) calling me in a panic, at all hours of day and night, while I was in medical school, saying, 'I can't breathe!'. I would listen, and ask if she was doing everything her doctors were telling her to do. She would say 'yes' and I would say, well, you are doing everything right then, aren't you? She had terrible congestive heart failure, and there wasn't much left that could be done.

Apparently Uncle Rainy, full of cancer, couldn't feel any pain--'a blessing, his doctor said--from the cancer. But the malignant pleural effusion was what started to make him panic in the end. There was hospice involved, and some miscommunication about the hospital when in panic, Uncle Rainy said he wanted to go to the ER. Cousin Dick ended up taking him, and as the ambulance came, the father whispered into his daughter Annie's ear that he loved her forever, and they both knew it was the last time she would see him again.

Dyfunctional with a Capital 'D' Uncle Rainy said, in Spirit, when I started to notice the seating arrangements in the room earlier.

He was right. For all of his millions as a 'smart businessman' (after the lawsuit settlement from the accident and 'investments' after), Dick and Bree hadn't wanted to buy him a new suit. He wanted to be buried in a blue suit and a white shirt. Annie had to argue with them that all he had was sweats and tee shirts, but he used to wear suits, wanted to be buried in one, and could afford it. 'But do we have to buy him the pants?' Bree asked. 

He was buried in a grey suit with a blue shirt, Annie said, barely hiding her disappointment. He did get, however, the same type of funeral as his wife, Auntie Ann (no church, just people talking), and 'something for everyone to eat afterwards'.

Annie says she has no place to live. She lived in Uncle Rainy's home with him. There had been so much conflict over the family finances that each has a lawyer, making a total of three over the estate. All he wanted was for peace and to know that Annie would be treated fairly by her siblings. Uncle Rainy had cut them off to make a point to respect her, but the older two said it was Annie 'twisting things around in his mind' and sought legal counsel after the 'gift money' stopped.

Five years ago, I was shocked to see upstairs in that house. Downstairs was where Uncle Rene lived, it was beautiful with everything he could need, and updated. Upstairs was where Dick was. It was filthy and falling apart. He drank, just like his mommy.  And Bree used to be the alternate caregiver, until Annie came on the scene, and then the family grew more strained. All the while there were professional caregivers both day and night to help with his nursing care.

I noticed today Bree, and Dick, and their spouses, looked like cats with a big bowl of cream to enjoy. At the table, Bree was already talking about going shopping at the nearest outlet mall. 

Uncle Rainy wanted me to talk to you about this today. The whole situation that he left behind.

And to leave with these questions:

1. Do you think it will matter who gets the money now that he is passed?
2. Who of the three children is most likely to Ascend? Annie, Bree, or Dick?
3. What is going to happen to the family ties when 'money goes away'?
4. Who listened to their heart and married for love and was ahead of their time?
5. Why were the children not able to rise above their differences, and give their wealthy father the peaceful death he so desired?

These are the kind of thoughts that gets the separation between Duality and the Higher Dimensions clearer when you are an impartial observer.

I love all three of my cousins. I spent time talking with each of them today.

But I also have a bit of advice: watch out for those who spend other people's money and do not earn it themselves.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc

Reiki and Grandmother's New Hospice

I had an assignment today. From Spirit. Mother had asked me to take her to see Grandmother in her new hospice. She has Alzheimers, and needed a higher level of care. When she was admitted three weeks ago, I was heading to Hawaii. Grandmother could not speak, could not eat, and was wasted away to a skeleton. She had been in the care of family, but had gotten harder to keep from wandering in the middle of night. Mom wanted to know if the place was taking good care of Grandmother, or if perhaps they should move her nearby. But Spirit? Spirit wanted me to open a Vortex over the site.

Okay, I said to myself, letting hopes of gardening or taking a ballet class while the kids were at their dad's evaporate. Let's get on with it!

The drive is many hours away. It was a beautiful drive, and time to spend with mother. We arrived around one in the afternoon. It was a beautiful place, high on a hill, with 360 degrees of breathtaking views. It was new, and clean. I felt love the minute I walked in to the place.

We found Grandmother in a wheelchair being pushed by the LVN. She had gained weight, I would say, fifteen pounds. She smiled in recognition of our smiling faces, not making the connection exactly, but talking in Italian a mile a minute.

She was afraid people would take her lunch, so we brought her back to her tray. I gave her ensure, and a bite of mashed potato. She ate her salad with a fork, by herself. And drank a whole glass of cranberry juice when I placed it in her hand.  Mother was tired, and had to rest, so she asked me to take Grandmother on a short walk in her wheelchair. 

We met Judith, a plus-size woman. Grandmother smiled and said in Italian, 'If I remembered my name, I would tell it to you' to Judith. I translated and introduced her by name. Judith said they had met, and mentioned that Grandmother had been talking about owing people money. I understood at once, and explained it was a delicate situation in the family, but for her not to worry. Grandmother said, 'pray! pray for me! and I will pray for you!' in English. Judith smiled and agreed to pray for her back.

We rolled by the woman with the most severe case of lower extremity lymphedema I had seen, slumped in a chair next to the beautiful fish tank that had 'gone bad' and had no fish in it but was still pleasant somehow. I rolled her by the aviary, and delighted to hear a white dove cooing. It didn't appeal to Grandmother much. I showed her a rose through a window, for it was windy outside, with a chill. 

'Bella, eh?' Grandmother said, smiling at the beautiful red roses through the window.

We met Robert and Ed, by the recreation area. They invited Grandmother to play bingo, and asked if she knew how to play. 'There is lots of bingo here. And keno too. You play to win 'fun money' and buy stuff at the 'store' they have here for the residents'. Grandmother smiled and in Italian, invited them over to her house so she could cook them some pasta. 'Mangia! mangia!' Robert said with a smile. Grandmother was pleased. We also met Beth, with a facial tardive dyskinesia of the mouth and tongue, that had a beautiful voice and 'had been there a long time'. I asked her to kindly look after Grandmother. I made her a cup of coffee, with sugar and cream, and rolled her back gently to the room where mother sat.

Sadly, the coffee was too hot, and the little sip Grandmother took scalded her tongue. I got her ice water and profusely apologized both to mother and to her. By this time, Grandmother could not handle the seat belt on her wheelchair any more. 'It's heavy! I don't like this! It hurts!' she said in Italian, over and over. 'Unsnap it' she ordered. So I did. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! went the alarm. I put it back. 

During this time, Mother started talking with Sarah, the nurse, who had taken roommate Pearl out of the bed, and into a wheelchair. Pearl had been asking all visit, 'Nurse! Nurse! I want to get up!'. Not more than five minutes later, "Nurse! Nurse! Is it time to go back in bed? I want to go back!. Sarah was handling mother and Grandmother AND Pearl with ease.

I had been making the Vortex, silently, as I pushed Grandmother around the facility. It 'took'. I saw Archangel Michael give the sign that it was 'good' and he communicated to me how important it was. I saw a lot of souls that had died there going 'up'.

While Mother was complaining in general to Sarah, and Pearl was asking how much longer she had to sit in her chair, and Mother was upset to have Pearl be so annoying (while Grandmother had no clue!), I saw a giant angel to the left of Pearl's chair. They are with them. All of them here have their Guardian Angels.

Long story short:

• The place was excellent
• The aviary had been donated by an organization that in known to affect ley lines
• I discovered 'this is the place where people go when what we do in the Hospital does not work'
• Reiki is of value--Reiki Opportunity!--in Hospice and Convalescent homes, Skilled nursing facilities, and Assisted Living. The aged are in great need of it.
• Loved ones in rest homes are never alone. Literally. I saw an angel by Pearl's side.
• Spending time with Grandmother was fun, and worth the day trip to the desert
• A by-product of medical training is being really comfortable in an environment like that

Take care and know, no matter where you are, Reiki is with you! And it really helps!

Namaste,

Reiki Doc