Elaine

It was late October, 2015. I had been experiencing a number of strange symptoms for almost two years. Each month seeming to bring something new. That October it became deadly serious.

On the morning of October 25th, I discovered that I could not go across the bedroom without being out of breath. I was home alone and called my wife to tell her that when she got home I'd probably have to go to the hospital. She came home immediately and the paramedics were called. They started an IV and put me oxygen. With the help of three firemen, I was slowly able to make it down the stairs to the gurney. By the time I hit it, my breath was again gone. It was a 30 mile trip to to the hospital.

A quick scan revealed I had two very large saddle embolisms in my lungs and another clot in my right calf and I was moved to the urgent area of the Emergency room. It was there I met Elaine. She was brought in after falling a couple days after hip surgery. On the way in she coded, but they brought her back. They spoke to her and she spoke back for about 10 minutes until she coded again.

My ER Dr. had gotten a Cardiac Specialist involved in my case. The two decided that the I would probably not survive normal treatment for clots as my situation was too precarious. My wife and I were asked to consider a clot buster treatment which would act much, much faster, but could have serious bad side effects.

They managed to bring Elaine back again and sought more specialists for her case. This time she did not speak. Around this time they determined that Elaine had no relatives or friends. She coded again.

We decided to do the clot buster and I asked about what I should expect during the IV. The Dr. said I would not notice anything. Great! We started the IV and within about 5 minutes the lights went bright; the ceiling was spinning; something was wrong. I thought to myself "so this is it?", but the Dr quickly arrived and determined I was just dehydrated, so they momentarily stopped my IV and gave me saline. Then after a few minutes, the IV was resumed.

Elaine was brought back again for about 10 minutes only to code again. This went on for the next 3 hours about every 10 minutes. Each time, was harder for her. Still no one was reached or came to her side. I was told I would be going up to ICU as soon as a bed was available. At about 8:30 Elaine left us again. The social worker witnessed what looked like torture to attempt to revive her again and instructed the Dr.'s to stop. Five minutes later my bed was ready.

I will never forget Elaine. To this day I do not know why it was her time and not mine? I cannot get past how horrible it is to die alone.

https://obittree.com/obituary/us/hawaii/kahului/ballard-family-mortuary/elaine-ah-len-needham/2279523/

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