Delbert Weatherly

My 82-year-old Dad Delbert  became aware of & battling nephritis (kidney inflammation) in June 2017. He was hospitalized a total of 3 times from June 2017 to his passing in August 2017. The first hospital stay he had emergency dialysis and he was on immune suppressing prednisone, and received a total of 4 chemo Rituxan treatments to reduce the kidney inflammation by B-Cell immune suppression.  (Sepsis and Impaired Immune System)

After the third treatment his creatinine started to lower. I was at work and on a cloud when I received the good news! I was scheduled time off from work for the next creatinine level check that was to be after the 4th chemo treatment and two weeks after the last creatinine test but turned out to be the day he was buried.

Dad had been a devoted caretaker of my mother, his wife of nearly 62 years  since her stroke October 2016. He passed away of septic shock at the Medical Center in IA on August 10th, 2017 at 5:42 p.m. I had never heard of and had no idea what the word sepsis meant. We were told over 48 hours after he arrived at the emergency room and only 4 hours before his passing that he had septic shock. I’ve since researched and he had several symptoms when the home healthcare nurse observed him and took vitals, which revealed low blood pressure that Tuesday August 8th. She sent him from home to urgent care that was 20 minutes away from their home, in the opposite direction from the hospital. The test at urgent care revealed he had an irregular heartbeat. Why didn’t home healthcare RN recognize the symptoms and call an ambulance code sepsis directly to the hospital, no urgent care?

He was admitted at the hospital two days before he passed. The day before he passed, the hospital placed a permanent dialysis catheter port and did other tests. This took hours of that day. His eye had begun to swell shut and the staff said he scratched it. He also had a bad bout of diarrhea that afternoon.

Sometime the night before his passing, he blacked out while staff was helping him to the bathroom and my mother told me the next morning the hospital staff had placed the the nostril oxygen tubes that night. He was not taken to CCU until time for dialysis.

Mom said the night before he passed he said he had pain and was moaning. I could not sleep that night and could not make myself go to work because I was so worried about him going thru dialysis in his condition. Myself, my daughter, siblings and sisters-in-law have been taking turns staying with Mom since Dad’s passing. I was approved to take FMLA to care for my Mom for at least several months.

I feel Dad is speaking to me to do this. My nephew Donny was at the hospital late that night before his passing. He said that Dad kept looking over at my sweet Mom and his dear wife. He said Dad told him he was having trouble breathing and that Dad said this is different from the shortness of breath in the past.  He also said Donny, I think I’m in trouble. At that point Donny prayed for Dad and said Dad prayed for everyone but himself through labored breath.

Donny made a point to tell Dad’s RN Dad was having trouble breathing. The RN said he’d look in to it.

My precious Father & Mother are pictured.

I have heard of military veterans suffering from PTSD but never knew what they go through. I think us 6 kids and my mother were and still are replaying this over and over and over again.

Carl I am so sorry you lost you’re beautiful daughter Erin to sepsis. You are a hero to myself & countless Americans for starting the Sepsis Foundation!

 

 

Source: Phyllis Bailey (daughter)