I had a nice visit with Kathy this week at her apartment. We even went out to lunch, and she drove! She recounted her health issues going back to migraines in the 70s and 80s.
In 1997 her first grandchild, Maddie, was born. That year she had a heart attack, a stent put in. Three months later she had open heart bypass surgery. You should see the scar! She wasn’t doing well, so the nurse showed her a picture of Maddie saying that this baby needed her to recover. That motivated Kathy to heal. After that it was determined she needed a pacemaker as well.
Over the years her breathing became compromised, and she had numerous hospitalizations because of pneumonia. In 2015 cancer was discovered in her lung and half of one was removed. She bounced back yet again, but COPD was diagnosed. In December of 2018, she had to have the heart leads of her 4th pacemaker replaced which caused serious heart problems again.
It’s been a struggle since then. However, Kathy has managed to keep her optimism and focus on others.
CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey. Learn more about CaringBridge.
