The Journey Has Ended

Dear FODs,

Debbie’s battle finally ended yesterday morning at 6:30 AM. She received very good care by the Lansdale hospital staff and was pain and fever free at the end.

True to her nature, Debbie was given a few hours to live on Friday afternoon when they discontinued all treatments and Debbie was able to “stretch it” into a few days. So much so, that we had to break our vigil into shifts because we were wearing down ourselves. Walid came up and he and Jessie covered nights. Mike and Laurie covered evenings and I covered the in between times or was at the store or by the stove.

Yesterday morning, I arrived at the hospital at 4:30 AM and Debbie looked much better than she did on Sunday. She virtually had no fever and was completely pain free. She was receiving ativan and dilaudid on the hour which kept her peaceful to the end. Her breathing was deliberate but not labored and she was resting quietly, like she was asleep at home. She was hoping for a peaceful ending and she did get that wish.

Jess and Walid left around 5:00 AM for Walid to beat the traffic back home to be with the kids and Jess came back a little before 6:00 AM. We were sitting next to Debbie’s bed when Jessie noticed that Debbie had just stopped breathing. She did not make any sounds or movements. Because she died of respiratory failure, her heart continued to beat for a time even though she was no longer breathing. Debbie continued to fight even though she was gone!

Father G. came back to the hospital and spent some time with us at Debbie’s bed. He blessed her and said a prayer at the bedside. We asked Father G. to say a special prayer for Joey because we are pretty sure that Debbie is kicking his ass now! As soon as we walked out of the funeral home she gave us a sign with a gigantic crack of thunder! Poor Joey was getting it for sure.

We have made arrangements with the same funeral home we used for Joey. Father G will say a funeral mass on April 10th @ 10:00 AM at Corpus Christi Church in Lansdale. We will provide more details as the plans materialize.

Thanks to everyone for all the help you have given us with the rides to HUP, GVH and wherever Debbie needed to go either to receive transfusions or to spend her Kohl’s cash. We could not have done this for this long without you.

We will be forever grateful to Dr. Porter, Heather and the staff of the HUP chemo clinic. We know that Dr. Porter and Heather bought us a few more years with Debbie after the transplant failed. The team at the chemo clinic went above and beyond the call for us and we will never forget you.

Love to all.

Joe, Jess, Walid, Mike and Laurie