Patricia King

My mother was one of the strongest person I have ever known. This really started when my mother finally went to the doctor (she knew for 2 years before she went). She had metastatic breast cancer. They removed her right breast and her doctor said you need to let us make you a breast. My mother told her I am in my 70s, what do I care about breast. Well she agreed and the breast was deformed, so she was more self conscious than she would have been. In their needing skin to stretch to make her breast, they removed from her stomach, which in turn she now had a hernia. But her doctor didn’t want her to have surgery for it yet.

My mother fell one day and broke her pelvis and fractured her back. She went to doctor and said they’d shoot, I believe, silicone in between vertebrae and be good as new. Now she couldn’t walk or stand for any period of time because of pain in her back. She walked into this hospital, she had pneumonia, long story, but she went home and two days later was screaming in pain and my mother could take pain. (Sepsis and Pneumonia)

We took her back to hospital. They x-rayed her, said she had blockage in small intestine. So for 3 or 4 days, she went through enemas. They finally stuck a tube up her nose to get her waste out and finally decided they were going to do surgery. Her doctor said they would not know what to expect until got in there. So off to surgery.

I believe she was in there for hour and a half, maybe 2. When the gal brought her back to her room, she told my mom’s nurse I gave her a shot for pain but wasn’t sure enough, so gave her a second one. I thought it was odd but blew it off. Then, I’m not sure if the gal that brought her back or her nurse said they left her cuff (blood pressure) on her arm, and they let her lay on her arm too long. Again, I heard but didn’t think anything about it. Something I forgot, my mother’s cancer doctor didn’t want her to take any blood thinners and two days before surgery they started giving blood thinners.

My mother came out of surgery and I thought everything going to be okay. She was using her arms, sucking on them green sponges. She hadn’t had anything to eat in 12 days. The next thing I knew, she was having horrible pains from shoulder to her wrist. They decided blood clots, took her back to surgery. They cut her from her wrist to her elbow. She came out and said they got them but her hand was turning black and was ice cold. They started talking about cutting off her hand. Then she hand more blood clots so went back in and the doctor kept saying were pumping her full of antibiotics. ( I thought trying to save her hand) And kept saying stomach hasn’t healed. Well, just had surgery 2 days ago, how much should one heal in 2 days? And said between her stomach problems and blood clots, maybe we should not resuscitate. I told them my mother was strong. If she can, she will. They took her back a 2nd time for blood clots and we heard code blue operating room 1, code blue. My aunt and I looked at one another and we knew we both went to door at ICU, and little gal says we not sure who it is. So my aunt and I went to surgery door and a couple minutes later, her doctor came out and said everything fine. Said they lost her for four minutes but did chest compressions and got her back. Then he talked with us again saying her stomach problems and she wouldn’t make it through another surgery. And I asked, what stomach problem? And he informed us that my mother’s waste was not in her colon but all through out her stomach. He said he would have to go in and take everything out clean and put back, and she wouldn’t make it through surgery. On her death certificate, the first reason for death it said perforated bowel. (Sepsis and Perforated Bowel) The second was something about her hand, and was necrotic ischemia. Right hand/arm. On Saturday I went down to see her. She was laughing and talking, but my aunt said when you get out of here, we gonna go eat and have a manicure and pedicure. And my aunt said my mother shook her head no. I went in. She had tears streaming down her face. When my brother came in, she turned toward him when she heard his voice but a little later she looked as if looking through us. I’d seen this before. I knew she was no longer there. Saturday we took her off ventilator she lasted about five minutes. This is no way to go for someone who fought so hard. For all the fighting she had done for her to have died this way is a slap in the face.

Rest in Peace. Love you Mom.

 

Source: lashaun, her daughter