Phyllis Jayme Chaplin passed away this evening peacefully. She was a wonderful woman who put up a long, hard fight against Hepatitis C and the resulting liver failure. She will be remembered by all those who knew her as a selfless woman who loved to serve those around her. She got her master's degree in counseling (graduating at the top of her class) and it was her passion. Her favorite job was helping at-risk teenage girls get into college. She had plans of counseling at local elementary schools if she were to recover. She loved her children fiercely and was a wonderful Grandmother. I could go on; there was so much more to her life. She had beautiful blue eyes-all of her nurses mentioned them. I am lucky to have that little reminder of her when I look into my kids eyes. She will be sorely missed by everyone, but we are comforted by the knowledge that we will see her again and that she is now free from the pain and suffering that she endured so well this past year.

She went to college at Ricks in Idaho and loved it there. Hiking the Tetons was one of her favorite memories. She will be going back to Rexburg to be buried. She has family there, and it was her wish to be buried there. Funeral arrangement are being made. If you need information, contact us.

Thank you to everyone who loved her, visited her, worried about her, or prayed for her. She was loved and I think that she knew that. As her family, we have been touched by all of you.

Jayme is declining rapidly. When Mike went to see her on Wednesday she wasn't responsive at all and the nurses said that they couldn't get her to eat anything. Mike did get her to eat some ice cream, but just a little bit. The hospice nurse called last night to let Mike know that things were getting worse and to let him know that they would be giving her morphine if things got any worse. They called back this morning to let Mike know that they would be giving her morphine today. I haven't been able to get out to see her with Carter's broken leg, but Mike says that this is the worst he has ever seen her. She has lost weight and is shaky. It really looks like she could go any time now. Right now we are just praying for a peaceful passing. Thank you everyone for your love, support and help through everything that Jayme has gone through. I know it means a lot to her, and it means a lot to us as well. I will keep you posted!

I haven't posted for a while because there hasn't been much to post about. Considering that Jayme hasn't been on any meds since Thanksgiving and hasn't been eating or drinking much, she has done surprisingly well. She is still in the nursing home. We all decided that would be best for everyone. She has been tired, but fairly stable. Just this week we have started to see some decline, however. She is getting more confused and it is harder for her to stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time. The other day she did complain about some pain for the first time and was given some medicine for it. Otherwise she seems ok. We always ask if she needs anything and she says no. We visit as often as possible, and she seems to enjoy that. I am sorry that she isn't able to talk to you on the phone, but it seems to take too much energy for her. I am sure that she knows of all your love and prayers and she is in good hands. If any of you have any messages you would like me to pass on, I would be more than happy to do so. You can leave a comment here, or leave a message on her phone. I will make sure she gets it.

Jayme has decided to go on hospice care. She has stopped taking her meds and has decided that she is ready to die. She really wants to come home to die, but unfortunately it may not happen. I worry about what she will go through in the dying process and the impact that will have on my kids. Especially Carter, he is so impressionable. I don't want to have him witness her when she gets confused and starts yelling. I don't want him to think that death is a horrible thing. I want him to remember the grandma who was excited to see him, the grandma who would read to him. I don't want his last memory of her to be as she is dying. We are working hard right now to figure out a way to surround her with people who care as much as possible, but it's hard with just us.

She is very happy with her decision, and I think it will help us all accept it a little easier now that she has. She will be missed dearly, but I think she already is. This is not the Jayme who everyone knew and loved.

Jayme went to the hospital today. At first, she said she didn't want to go, but changed her mind after a few minutes. She has been refusing her meds today and hasn't been eating or drinking much. She said she was in pain, that she just didn't feel well. The doctors there sent her back to the nursing home because there really isn't much they can do for her. They basically said that she should be on hospice so that she can be comfortable. I don't want to sound harsh, but the reality is that she is dying. There is a consensus among all the doctors that have seen her that she is not a candidate for a liver transplant and without that any aggressive treatment would just prolong her misery. She has no quality of life right now. She sleeps all day. She does get happy when we go visit, but when we leave she goes back to sleep. She likes the lights off and the door shut. She doesn't leave her bed for anything. They stopped trying to do physical therapy a few weeks ago because she wasn't doing it. Unfortunately, she is having a hard time accepting this, which is understandable. I just know that it would be easier for everyone else to accept it if she would and I think the opposite is probably true too. I think a part of her doesn't want to let everyone else who is pushing so hard for her down. It has to be hard to tell your kids that you are tired and just want to be done.

Anyways, if you would like to talk to her, please call. I have found that if I call twice it allows her more time to find the phone and answer, so you may want to try that, and then leave a message on the second call.

This probably doesn't come as a surprise, and I know I have been wrong about this before, but I think we should probably be prepared for her to go fairly soon. Of course, she may prove me wrong and stick around - we'll see.

I haven't posted because there really hasn't been much to report. Mentally, Jayme is doing well, she is interacting well with us and seems to know what is going on. Physically, she is the same. She is weak and tired. She spends most of her day sleeping. Mike and I try to visit as often as possible, usually every day. We have brought her things to do, she just seems tired. She was discharged from physical therapy today because she wasn't doing anything with it. She can ask for it, but they aren't going to be coming into her room every day to be turned away.

In other news, everything went through with the sale of the house and we are just working with a lawyer and Social Security to figure out what we can do with the proceeds. We should have it all figured out soon.

I think that's all. Keep up the encouragement, you never know what impacy it may have.

It has been a while since I have posted, things get busy and I forget. Jayme is still in the nursing home/rehab. She was sent to the hospital when sh came down with a fever. At that time, she was doing worse than I have ever seen her. They had actually started with hospice care because it seemed to everyone that it was time. When she got the fever, we had her sent to the hospital just to be sure that we had done everything possible. After a few days in ICU she was transferred back to the regular unit and then back to the home. She is doing better mentally than I have seen her in a long time and her ascites isn't coming back as quickly, so whatever they did in the hospital and are doing in the home is working for her. She is still very weak, but she is sitting up for about an hour a day. She needs help with all of her daily activities, including eating. She isn't able to walk at all that we have seen. So it will be a long road, but she seems willing to do the physical therapy so she can come back home. We are hoping that she can do it; it would be great to have her strong enough to come back home.

She does have her phone and even though she rarely answers it, she does get the messages when we go visit. I know she enjoys hearing from everyone.