May Weitze, 1926 - 2009
At about 8:30 AM on July 16, my brother found my Mom collapsed on the floor of her bedroom in NJ. He called for an ambulance, and she was taken to the hospital. It appeared that she had fallen during the night, but my brother couldn't hear her. I found out about it that afternoon around 3 PM PDT (I'm in California). She had an infection and a fever, and testing showed that she had had a mild heart attack at some point.
The next day, 7/17, I was able to talk to her on the phone in her hospital room. Her breathing was very labored, and she wasn't able to say much of anything. Soon after that, she was found to have a 105°F fever, and was taken to the major surgery intensive care unit. (She wasn't going to have any surgery, but I guess this is their best ICU.) She was intubated, on a ventilator, on two medications to keep her blood pressure up, and on antibiotics to treat the sepsis. She was also found to have abdominal bleeding, but not to a great extent.
Once she was transfered to ICU, her decline was slow but continuous. The intensive care was not helping. Finally, on July 21, it was obvious that she would never recover, and the ventilator was turned off. She passed away soon after.
In accordance with her wishes, her body has been donated to a medical school, and there will be no funeral. I miss her a lot, but I'm staying open to my feelings. I'm allowing myself to think of her when I do, and allowing myself to feel grief when I do. Being out here without my siblings makes it hard in some ways (and easier in others), but my wife T is wonderful and supportive. I'll have to go back at some point to help go through her things, but that's for later.
I thought those reading this should know.
Bill