Sad Personal News

[Jackie]

Sad news. My mom, Betty, passed away last week. It has been a very difficult time.

On Jan 19th mom coughed and ruptured a hernia that she'd had for many years. She was in horrible pain, so I called an ambulance and she was rushed to the local hospital where they performed emergency surgery. The surgery itself was no problem. However, due to her COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), getting her off the ventilator after the surgery was insurmountable. They extubated her on Jan. 25th, but that failed. They had to reintubate her in the middle of the night. On Jan 28th they performed a tracheostomy. They had hoped it would be easier for her to wean off the vent from a trach. By Feb 10th it was clear that she was worn out. Her systems were beginning to fail. We had no choice but to say goodbye and turn off her ventilator. She died with dignity and peace surrounded by myself, my sister, and her grand-daughter.

The funeral service was Friday. She was laid to rest in a beautiful small Catholic cemetery in Lafayette at the foot of a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes. My mother was a devoted Catholic and, if anyone is in heaven, she is surely there.

I loved her so and am very, very sad.

Jackie

[This message has been edited by Jackie (edited 02-21-2010).]