Donna Harris

Last week Amy and I brought my mom to Avera St Mary’s Hospital in Pierre. At that time we thought we were just looking at some dehydration and possibly pneumonia. Over the course of the past 9 days Mom has been through many many tests, and we have had to make many tough decisions. She went from dehydration and kidneys not working properly, to blood clots in her leg, pneumonia, to sepsis and a probable unconfirmed cancer. That was and has been very tough on Mom. Yesterday morning we had to make some very tough decisions, Mom was not responding well to anything that the Dr’s could do and the sepsis was taking its toll on her organs. Mom has been fighting tooth and nail every step of the way, those that know her well know the stubbornness she has😁. Well Dr’s basically said nothing else they can really do. Had two choices, fly Mom to Sioux Falls to be put on possible dialysis, see what kind of cancer she has and keep her organs going artificially possibly, or stay here in Pierre and give her comfort and care. With heavy hearts and keeping mom’s wishes close in mind, we chose to have Mom enter hospice in Pierre and surround her with love and comfort. In true Donna fashion the second all the iv’s were out and antibiotics and fluids gone she woke up this morning bright eyed and ready for day. We have had long hard discussions today, we also have had many laughs as we have looked back at all of moms craziness over the years. She is happy to be off all the medicines and smiled as we told her no more pokes. We don’t know how long we have her left in our lives, but she is happy and comfortable right now. Asking for prime rib and 🤢ugh rutabagas that she once again forced Tate and I to eat. She is getting as many back rubs and Coca Cola that she wants right now. She is in good spirits and knows that when it is her time, she can go with God knowing that she has been a blessing to all the lives she has been a part of over the years.