I don't mean to pry Bill but what was it {the condition or illness}that ended up taking Brenda. If you don't want to talk about it thats ok, i was just curious.
Mick
Mick, I don't recall it I was told what actually was the cause. However, I have a pretty good idea. She had been feeling bad, in one way or another, since around Christmas. There were several bugs going around from then til after the 1st part of the year and it seemed like she got nearly every one. Well, Time went on and she would feel pretty good for a while and be pretty down for awhile. She had trouble off and on, keeping her blood sugar stabilized and she had Asthma also. We attributed some of her "not feeling good AND lack of energy" to that. After a while, with some coaxing from me, she made an appointment with her Doctor and he set her up for some tests. Well (don't quote me about the dates) around April or May, she started having these tests (Upper GI, Lower GI, Small Intestines, Colonoscipy (spelling) and various lab work. They found various things like some small ulcers, some irritation and such as that and the Doctor took care of those and there was one place (don't remember where) that he saw something and took a biopsy (neg. results). They did discover that she had something called "Chrones Disease" (I think it has something to do with an irritation from the throat, all the way to the rear end. I looked it up, but have since forgotten. She was also enemic and about a month before she passed, the Doctor's office called and told her she needed to go to the hospital and get a blood transfusion of 2 units. Man, when she had finished with that (3 - 5 hrs), she had gotten her color back (she had gotten so pale) and she was feeling pretty energetic ( she had gotten so lifeless). We were both excited about how she had perked up. Then, on the 25th of June, I took her to the Doctor's office for lab work, she saw an old friend there and went over to have a really nice chat with her (last one with her friend) and after the lab work, we went home. Oh, I have to tell you, she loves BBQ and I stopped to get her a Pulled Pork sandwich and she loved it, telling me how good it was and all. Then, the next day (Friday, the 26th of June, she was in the living room and took a call, which happened to be the Doctor's office. I was in another room and heard her say
Now? O came in to see what was going on and she said the Doctor's nurse told her to "go to the hospital
NOW and get another blood transfusion of 2 units. We headed for the hospital, with me making phone calls to get Karla and James taken care of, because they were at 2 different places and Brenda and I would be out of pocket for 3 -5 hrs, again! This time, Brenda didn't get her color OR energy back, and that puzzled us.
She was supposed to have 2 appointments Wed afternoon (July the 1st, with the Internal medicine Doctor and the Hemotologist) and this was the last step that was planned, to find out what was going on with her. She didn't do much the next few days, mussed Church because she just didn't feel like going. Tuesday (June 30th, she told me that she'd started her period and she hadn't had one in 6 to 8yrs! I told her the Doctor needed to know that, because they were putting blood in and here it was coming out! She wanted to call, so she did. Well, they wanted her to see those 2 Doctors the next day. So, we went to bed Tuesday night, talking about the busy schedule that we had the next day (it would start (for me) at 6AM with other things going on and Her part would start after lunch (so we thought). That evening was the last conversation I was to have with her. I woke up at 5:30 and was trying to get awake enough to get started and out of the corner of my eye, I saw her move and thought she was getting up to go to the bathroom. She never got up. It was like she was having a small seizure and her whole body was just moving slightly. I jumped up and started trying to arouse her and she wasn't coming to. After about 10minutes (maybe less) I called 911 (and she was starting to have trouble breathing! I woke Karla (our Daughter) at 5:45AM , told her that her Mother was having problems, that I called 911 and she needed to get up and get dressed and I went back to continue to try to rouse Brenda. The ambulance arrived, they worked on Brenda, tried everything they could and finally (seemed forever) took her to the hospital. I had to get James dressed and we were there shortly after the ambulance and Brenda was already gone! I just couldn't believe it! A couple of days later, I was talking to one of the ladies at Bost, where we worked and when I related what Brenda said about starting her period, the lady said, "Bill, I Don't think that was her period!" I thought I was going to fall out of the chair! The thought never crossed my mind, that she was bleeding internally! But apparently she was! I was asked, at the hospital, if I wanted an autopsy and I said no, because I couldn't see going through that. I think the Death Certificate will list the cause of death and I don't have those yet. Should be with in the next 2 or 3 days.
I hope you (or anyone else) don't mind that I talked so much on this, I just need to talk, that's all. We were married for 38 and 1/2 years, were still very much in love and (I promise you) if I could have gone FOR HER, I would have!
SHE was my LIFE!
I need to go now.
BTW, don't feel bad and think that YOU have put me through this, I have been and will be having SOME problem dealing with this for some time ( in one way or another).
