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Loss of Significant Otter
8 years ago
Two weeks ago my significant otter passed. She had been sick for five months, in a state of respiratory failure resulting from pneumonia and other factors, with no hope of recovery.
What started out as walking pneumonia seemed to respond to antibiotics but she relapsed and had to go to the emergency room. There she was intubated and admitted to the ICU. After two weeks in ICU we had the choice to send her to hospice care right then or opt for long term care. We opted for long term care and she was transferred to a nursing home.
Initially she seemed to be making progress, but then she started having relapses. Each time she would have to go to the hospital, sometimes the ICU but usually the stepdown unit, where she'd stay a few days or sometimes a week or more. Each time they'd get her better and send her back to the nursing home.
Despite all the efforts of various respiratory therapists to get her weaned off the ventilator, there was no such luck. Complications continued arising such as kidney failure (she'd had a kidney removed nine years ago due to cancer) heart failure, recurring pneumonia, etc. We went through many cycles of this, each time continuing to hope for recovery, and being encouraged each time it seemed there was a significant improvement in her condition.
Eventually her dad and I had frank talks with the pulmonologist and the infections diseases doctor. We were told that the infections in her body had colonized, that no amount of treatment could eradicate them and they would simply recur each time despite treatment with antibiotics to the point of eliminating all symptoms.
We made the sad decision that she would have to be transferred to hospice care, and worked on breaking the news to her. She agreed that she understood, she was only, in her words, laying in a bed waiting to die. At this point we notified medical staff that we would be transitioning her treatment to comfort care only.
From this point forward the hospital staff did everything they could to make her last couple days as comfortable as possible. The level of compassion they displayed was outstanding. She had been craving food the whole time she'd been since being on a ventilator typically precludes eating and requires tube feeding. They very quickly brought in a speech therapist who cleared her to eat pureed foods, and so she was able to eat three actual meals before she passed. Her reaction to being able to eat, with myself or her dad assisting, was priceless. Pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, coffee, tea, pudding, etc., for dinner. Waffles and yogurt for breakfast. The culinary staff worked wonders to present pureed foods in an appetizing manner resembling the foods they were prespared from.
All to soon it was time. The ambulance was there to transfer her to the hospice facility, where she was removed from ventilator support and passed within a couple hours.
I held her hand to the end.
What started out as walking pneumonia seemed to respond to antibiotics but she relapsed and had to go to the emergency room. There she was intubated and admitted to the ICU. After two weeks in ICU we had the choice to send her to hospice care right then or opt for long term care. We opted for long term care and she was transferred to a nursing home.
Initially she seemed to be making progress, but then she started having relapses. Each time she would have to go to the hospital, sometimes the ICU but usually the stepdown unit, where she'd stay a few days or sometimes a week or more. Each time they'd get her better and send her back to the nursing home.
Despite all the efforts of various respiratory therapists to get her weaned off the ventilator, there was no such luck. Complications continued arising such as kidney failure (she'd had a kidney removed nine years ago due to cancer) heart failure, recurring pneumonia, etc. We went through many cycles of this, each time continuing to hope for recovery, and being encouraged each time it seemed there was a significant improvement in her condition.
Eventually her dad and I had frank talks with the pulmonologist and the infections diseases doctor. We were told that the infections in her body had colonized, that no amount of treatment could eradicate them and they would simply recur each time despite treatment with antibiotics to the point of eliminating all symptoms.
We made the sad decision that she would have to be transferred to hospice care, and worked on breaking the news to her. She agreed that she understood, she was only, in her words, laying in a bed waiting to die. At this point we notified medical staff that we would be transitioning her treatment to comfort care only.
From this point forward the hospital staff did everything they could to make her last couple days as comfortable as possible. The level of compassion they displayed was outstanding. She had been craving food the whole time she'd been since being on a ventilator typically precludes eating and requires tube feeding. They very quickly brought in a speech therapist who cleared her to eat pureed foods, and so she was able to eat three actual meals before she passed. Her reaction to being able to eat, with myself or her dad assisting, was priceless. Pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, coffee, tea, pudding, etc., for dinner. Waffles and yogurt for breakfast. The culinary staff worked wonders to present pureed foods in an appetizing manner resembling the foods they were prespared from.
All to soon it was time. The ambulance was there to transfer her to the hospice facility, where she was removed from ventilator support and passed within a couple hours.
I held her hand to the end.
- The Desert Fox