Rufus Gentry Burdette

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.


You might call him Rufus  or you might call him Gentry;  a few even  call him Mr. Burdette, but we call him Daddy.  


First, let us say the  medical personnel have been nothing short of amazing and have taken great care of Daddy and us!


On Wednesday, September 20, 2017, Daddy was admitted to the ICU with a bleeding ulcer.  Things took a turn for the worse and he had emergency surgery on Thursday, September 21, 2017.  As of today, Sunday,  September 24, 2017 he has been making baby step improvements as he has a lot of medical issues which need to be addressed (heart, lungs, kidneys, and blood pressure).  


Thursday the cardiologist said his heart was looking good after the surgery and the issues could have been a result of the strain of everything else that was going on with his health.  He did have some fluid on his lungs, but it doesn't seem to be of major concern at this point.  Two days ago he was maxed out on two blood pressure medicines and as of 2:00 am today, he is down to none.  Kidney function was low and we were advised he was in the gray area of needing a dialysis treatment.  Over the last 24 - 36 hours his kidney function has improved so we are still monintoring that and are hopeful he will not need dialysis.  



On Saturday, it became a concern there may be a leak internally from where the surgery was performed.  The surgery removed the ulcer which was located in the duodenum (first section of the small intestine).  He is currently on a ventilator, but is breathing on his own.  The next step is to try a test and then hopefully remove the intubation.  The doctor would like to perform a MRI to determine exactly what is going on internally, but we have a few hurdles to be able to do that as he will have to lie still for 25-30 minutes.


We, along his wife Linda would like to thank all of the family and friends who have reached out via social media, phones calls, and texts.  Your thoughts and prayers have been comforting and greatly appreciated.   There is no denying the power of prayer and we are asking all of you to pray hard for Daddy.  The specific prayer intentions for today are they are able to perform the MRI today and it will show no leakage or anything requiring another surgery.

Whether you know him through his church family at Rosemont Baptist Church, growing up in LaGrange, driving a school bus for Troup County, his kids, grandkids, Linda's family, or you were the person he stopped to chat up at the store, we appreciate you being a part of his life.

While we understand many of you would like to come and visit Daddy and we all know he normally loves to visit and talk,  we would ask you to please respect that he is very sick right now and must be calm and resting.   For now only immediate family will be able to see him. ICU hospital rules only allow 2 family members in his room at a time.  Often, there will be some of us in the waiting room.  Your support and presence are always appreciated.