Friday, May 29, 2009

Sandy's 2000 Chevy Tracker went into the shop on Wednesday. We didn't know what the problem was, only that there was a kind of cracking noise in the front end. The shop told us it's the stabilizer bar, or sway bar, and that it had suffered metal fatigue and other maladies and needed to be replaced. Total parts and labor, $139.05.

Sandy and a few others helped move her mother from Manor Care nursing home in Kankakee to Heritage Woods assisted living in Watseka. It took them all day but they got it done.

Their day started out with the very sad news that their brother Terry was being moved into hospice care at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. He had been at this hospital for some time. He had a stomach tube inserted for feeding; he had any number of IV bags hanging over his head for various purposes; he had a tracheotomy; his body was bloated with fluids. His former spouse Vicki called Sandy to tell her about their intent to move Terry to hospice.

So moving day started out with feelings of sadness in the family. In the early afternoon Sandy got a call from nurse Connie at UCMC to say that Sandy's neotrophil count is zero, which means that her body's ability to fight infection is very low. Connie talked about a shot that she thinks Sandy should have that would be administered the day after this coming Thursday's chemo (Chemo Day 4). She didn't say what this shot is, but from online research I think it must be "growth factor," a chemical means by which her white blood count can be reinforced.

The cost of this shot is reportedly about $3,000. We'll see how much of it is covered by insurance.

Not long after she received this news, Sandy got a call from Vicki. This time, Vicki told Sandy that Terry had passed away. He died at about 2:15 pm CDT on Thursday, May 28th. He had undergone I don't know how many chemotherapy sessions, a number of major surgeries and suffered several setbacks over the preceding two years. He always had family around him, fortunately, and by all accounts an excellent advocate in Vicki.

But the human body can take only so much and Terry's had had enough. Yesterday was a very sad day for everyone in the family.