His Doctor called him a walking miracle as he had high blood pressure, diabetes, congestive heart failure and more. I watched him in the last six months go down hill and take more and more pain killers. We always thought it was for his hip which was giving him trouble. It wasn't.
Three months ago he recieved a kit for to check for colon cancer. He fulfilled the tests and sent them in. A reply came back that a colonoscopy was to be done. As a matter of fact, a scope was done from top and bottom. Blood had been found in his stools. Nothing was found when the tests were completed but Ron began to feel more and more ill. He found his appetite decreasing and he couldn't eat because he couldn't keep the food down. He began to throw up more and more. Within a short time, he decided he had better go and see his Doctor, who prescribed some antibiotics as the Dr. thought he had contacted an infection. Ron began to have severe problems with throwing up, one of the medications he was given compounded it with side effects of the medications which said that a side effect was to throw up.
After two days of this Ron quit taking the medications and went in to see a Dr. at a walk in clinic. This Dr. took the medication away. He prescribed something else. It didn't work either. Two days later he went to another walk in Dr.
The walk in clinic was full that day and there was a number of people ahead of us. Ron was really feeling sick by this time. After waiting for over an hour, I went up to the desk and asked the receptionist if there was any way she get Ron in faster as he was threatening to leave so he could go and lay down. She asked me to wait a moment and went in to see a nurse, who called Ron into the nursing station to take his blood pressure. It was not good, and she went into see the walk in Dr. right away. Within a short period of time the Dr. came and took Ron and I into his office.
He took one look at Ron and told him that he needed to go to the hospital immediately. He suspected it was his gall bladder. Why did I not see the colour of Ron's skin? It was almost an orange yellow. To me it was a very sallow grey until the Dr. pointed out the colour. Of course, now I could see it.
The Dr. proceeded to do up all of the paperwork needed to admit Ron into the hospital. All Ron had to do was to show up which he did.
Ron told me that he might not leave the hospital. I told him that yes he would. A number of years ago his father died in the hospital with liver cancer and Ron had always held the view that he also would not live to a ripe old age. How right he was.
They did test after test after test and all they could find was a 3-5cm stone that had ended up in his stomach and a ripped tube from his gall bladder. It was sending out toxins into Ron's system and causing untold devastation. While he had been having some severe bouts of throwing up, he had forced the stone out of his gallbladder. This stone was blocking the entrance from his stomach into his intestine and causing him to throw up more also.
The first night he was in the hospital, they almost or did lose him. His kidneys and his liver had shut down. He revived and they began a series of tests. They were reluctant to give him anesthetic to take out the gall bladder because of his heart condition. His heart was twice the size of a normal heart and probably also had fluid around the heart as well.
They used a laser to blast the stone to pieces and then went back in later to see if it had all be gone. It wasn't, but they were able to fish out the piece that remained. Ron had not been able to eat anything up to now, he couldn't keep it down, so he had been fed with an intravenous and a liquid diet.
With tubes running from him in every direction, he was being kept under close observation. Eventually a shunt was put in to help drain the toxins from his liver and a catheter was put in to help monitor his liquid input and output. His yellow colour was slowly decreasing but not fast enough and the Dr. became concerned about that.
Eventually the tubes were coming out and he could begin to eat normal meals. He was anticipating his coming home. The Dr. had a final MRI done, this time from another direction. This test was the last one to be done. On Friday night, The Dr. told Ron to call in the family. That in itself as devastating news as usually the only time that is done when the news is not good.
The news was not good, he was told he had liver cancer and it was not operable. He could try cancer treatment but the results were not guaranteed. The family gathered and we tried to prepare for the worse. We weren't prepared at all for the news. He had from three weeks to six months to live. I cried and still crying as I write this. Why did such a wonderful gentle man have to die so early at the age of 67. We were going to celebrate our 50th anniversary in two years.
They put in a shunt going from his liver to his lower intestine so the toxins would continue to drain in the hope that it might extend the time he had left. He was sent home.
His friends and family rallied around him to give him the support he needed. He was surprised and humbled at the extent they showed their caring. We spent what time we could to start going through all of the business of our lives to put everything in my name. We only succeeded in a few items. One of the things we did together was to get the phone put in my name. We both made the call together, and had everything set up to be switched over on Sept 1. All that had to be done was to "pull a switck" so to say.
On Wednesday morning about 6:10 I arose and went to the bathroom as that is usually the first thing I have to do. I wandered back to the bedroom and automatically looked at Ron to see if had a comfortable night. I realized with sadness that he had died in his sleep. As I cried, I checked his pulse and his temperature. I then asked a friend that had been staying with us to check also which she did.
We needed help, but to our horror, the phone was out, we had no phone until I was reminded that I had a cell phone. The RCMP were called and arrived along with the ambulance shortly after. I would not let the ambulance workers in as Ron did not want to be resusitated. I eventually let one in to check and make sure my assumptions were correct. They were.
Eventually, after the RCMP and the ambulance crew notified him, the undertaker arrived. It was not easy watching my husband being carried away in one of those black bags. It tore my heart to pieces. During all this time MTS still had not connected my phone. After giving them a blast or two they did get it connected. They couldn't find the information that had been previously given to them. I suppose they since have found it.
I'm tempted to sue them.
The RCMP and ambulance crew were terrific and wonderful to me. I could not have asked for better courtesy from anyone. I give them an A+.
Then followed the phone calls that had to be made. I am sure we missed some people and for those people, I asked forgiveness, you were not forgotten, just missed.
Over 150 people attended his graveside funeral. It was unbelieveable. To date cards are still coming in.
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