|
|
As many of you know, Jo had serious medical problems for many years. She had been in this hospital
a total of twelve times. Her condition had been
deteriorating slowly but steadily for several years. Her most serious problem was due to the worsening of her lung condition, UIP. On August 7, she turned away from the walker she used in the house, fell, and broke her left arm, the humerus. I took her immediately to the nearby Arcadia Methodist Hospital, to the Emergency Room. They treated her and entered her in the hospital where she stayed for three days. Then, on her doctor's recommendation, she was transferred to a nearby rehabilitation facility. The surgeon had originally decided that she was too weak to survive surgery, so they simply slung her arm. Because the bones had not been set and a pin installed, her arm got steadily worse over the next few days. Upon a second evaluation, and responding to persuasion from both her primary physician and from me, he agreed to operate, on August 23, Thursday. She came through the surgery just fine, although her lung condition still made it hard for her to get her breath.. She was scheduled to be transferred to their TCU, Transitional Care Unit, as soon as a bed became available. On Friday she was not doing well, partly due to the pain medication, but by Saturday she was recovering nicely. It happened that her daughter Peggy came from Three Rivers to visit her that afternoon and they had a nice visit for a couple of hours. Her nephew Barry arrived shortly after 6 PM for a short visit. Afterward, she seemed a bit tired,. Her condition became critical shortly after 8 PM and they transferred her to CCU, the Critical Care Unit. Her breathing was so bad that the doctor said she would have to go on a ventilator to even have a chance of recovering. . We discussed her wishes for life support and agreed that if she held her own, or improved on the machine, we would continue. She had been unconscious since about 10 PM and never regained consciousness. About 3 AM, her nurse suggested that I should go to the waiting room and try to sleep. She said there was nothing I could do and she would call me if anything happened. I slept for about three hours on cushions on the floor and when I returned to her room, her condition had become critical. Her blood pressure was only 75 and her kidneys had shut down. About 7AM the doctor came in and told me that he had looked at her chest xrays and her right lung was too far gone to expect any recovery. So, after a bit, I said it was time to take her off the ventilator and stop all of the other support systems. I am reminded that after the decision had been made to stop the supportive measures, the nurse asked me to step outside for a few minutes. When I was called back in, they had removed the ventilator, the IV's and the monitors, I looked at her and her face had become serene, she had become beautiful. Later, when I recounted this change to Elsah, her eldest daughter, who has been an RN for some 35 years, she said, "That is not uncommon. I have seen it dozens of times." I hope this will give some of you a measure of peace, as it did me. After a few minutes, her heart and breathing slowed down and finally stopped about 10:30 AM. Though she never was conscious, I held her hand, stroked her head and talked to her, telling her how much I loved her. I hope she heard me. At least she was never alone. Also, I was somewhat apprehensive about sharing this memory of her, but I was advised that it was a very special memory which I should include. Jo was a lifelong, avid, LA Dodgers fan. She watched every game she could, even while in the hospital during this event. Also, because she was such a fan, and also because she needed to shade her eyes from the bright sun, she always wore her blue Dodger cap, everywhere, even in church. So, when it was time for her to die, I asked the attending Hospital Chaplain, a very nice lady, if I could put her cap on her. She said she was a Dodger fan too and it was a good idea. So, she died with her cap on. Later I asked the funeral director if she could wear it as she went to the crematorium. He said, "Of course." Silly I guess, but it meant something to me. I have nothing but praise for the quality of care the staff provided. Not only were they techically qualified and conscientious, they were very kind to me. I appreciated that very much. It was the most difficult time of my life. |
|