update to my youngest bro

Dear Tony,

Ronnie's color continues to improve, as does his attitude. Having him fill out the Five Wishes living will seemed to make sure he was aware of the direness of his situation.

He was not interested in writing to you or in dictation to me for you. I think yesterday he was going through denial, as well as the delirium tremens, so do not take umbrage at his actions. As time goes on, I will continue to try to convince him to contact you. He hasn't been interested in contacting anyone, really.

Fortunately, others have not felt that way about him. He has had several visits from his son and his daughter, as well as my daily trips to see him. Until Thursday, he had been a sourpuss about seeing anyone. Now, he at least tries to be sociable when someone is there. I brought him a bag of mini Snickers and he even gave one to his nurse. That was definitely better than he had been acting to them.

Yesterday, he had a fever all day. Also, as I said, he had DT's very badly. There were times that he was shaking so badly that he could have chipped his teeth if he had his mouth open. They are now giving him the Atavan orally, instead of by i.v., so it takes about thirty minutes to take effect. When I left yesterday evening, about 6:30 PM, he was resting and had not had anymore severe shakes for about two hours.

I am very concerned about his lack of energy. Just eating his meal wears him out. Seriously. He'll sit up in bed and spends all his energy just getting food onto a fork and into his mouth. After every meal, he lays down and takes a nap. He is that worn out.

I'm soon going to see him and I'll check his blood pressure and vitals. Well, I'll talk to the nurse about them, I mean. I'm hoping they will be back into normal range.

Then, I'm going out to the Jepson and enjoy some art. The Andy Warhol exhibit is soon leaving and there is also a Winston Churchill exhibit. Then, tonight, I'm seeing "Living is Easy With Eyes Closed" and discussing it with the JavaFlix folks. I look forward to that, for sure. I'll let you know how it goes.

with my love

ps That movie title is rather appropriate at this time, isn't it? But this has been planned for a month... life is strange. Timing is incredible.
pps The photo is from Thursday. I had bought him some little candy bars at the gift shop and he was sitting in the chair, enjoying one of them. Yesterday, he did not sit in the chair during the five hours I was there. Mostly, he slept.