Just checking back in and marveling at you all and your compassion. Again, thanks so much. Your sentiments are truly appreciated.
I thought I'd pass along something interesting. Over the course of this disease, my Dad absolutely hated 2 things more than anything else: the $25,000 power chair and the bedside commode. They both represented his disabilities more than anything else. The power chair was always breaking/not working and it wasn't designed for long-term comfort once he couldn't hold himself straight. The commode was the worst since it meant having to give up his last refuge of dignity, plus the fact that it took so much effort to go back and forth between the bed/chair and commode, that he felt like it was non-stop (at least once an hour). Anyway, about 2 hours after he'd passed away, we called the funeral home to come get him. I went to clear access to him which involved backing his powerchair out of the way. Once it was, I left it knowing it would power itself off in 2 minutes to conserve the battery. After the funeral home folks left, I entered back into the room and noticed that the power chair was in full recline - someone had moved it. So I asked the hospice nurse, who was with the funeral guys and Dad's body, if anyone touched it. She said 'no'. I believed her, plus knowing that the buttons to recline it aren't labelled and it takes a few minutes just to power it up and slowly recline it. So my sister and I approach the chair and realize I had backed it up to the commode, so when it reclined, it had completely crushed the arm and back of the commode, knocking the pieces to the ground! We both looked at each other bug eyed. Now, I'm in the technology field and tend toward a very analytical mind, but for the life of me, I can find no other explanation than to assume Dad got it a final, post-mortem parting shot at his least favorite apparatuses. We've been laughing about it as a family ever since.
David