Just talked to Mom again. They’re giving him a feeding tube, apparently this one is designed so that he can put a cap on it if he wants to eat normally, and it can stay in place for a while as needed. He can get meds as well as protein through the tube (unlike a normal intraveneous, which can’t do protein). The best part is that the doctors stressed to her that this can potentially cause a real turnaround – he could get better and even go home, with the feeding tube still in place. They said if there wre no hope, they wouldn’t put in the tube and would send him to hospice instead. Also, apparently today he was lucid, not paranoid or delusional or hostile at all. (He told Mom he’d been hallucinating earlier and had seen a sock on the floor; she told him there really was one there. I think I might just be disappointed if I had hallucinations that mundane – then again, the other night I dreamed about doing pushups. Maybe we’re just a boring family.)
Mom feels a lot better and so do I. I do want to also thank the people who commented on the earlier post; knowing people care always helps.