Journal entry by Terri Franklin —
It is with a heavy heart I have to write this post. Thursday, Oct. 17 Tom passed away. We started our married life together on Oct. 17 and 32 years later ended our married life together.
Sunday, Oct. 13th Tom started throwing up I believe from the chemo. At 2:30 he wanted to get up. I asked if he needed help and he said yes. Our neighbor was having a party so I asked for his 2 strongest friends to help me get Tom to the car and off to the ER we went. In the ER they found blood clots in his lungs so he was admitted to ICU and put on strong blood thinners. He was moved from ICU to a regular room Monday late afternoon and we thought he was getting stronger. He had PT and OT and they talked about moving him to a rehab facility. Katie came home on Wednesday to check on her dad and Tim planned on coming home Thursday. Thursday morning at 7:30 am the hospital called to let me know they were moving him back to ICU they couldn't get his heart rate to come down all night and his blood pressure was getting too low so he needed more intensive care. As we arrived at the hospital Tom was sleeping and his blood pressure looked to be improving. Tom heard everything everyone said and would pipe in with questions or with his two cents worth. He got a big smile on his face when my sister-in-law, Joyce stopped by to visit. The doctor came in at 5 pm and told us the only thing keeping him alive were the meds. I asked Tom what he wanted and he told me he wanted hospice care. So that's what we did. About an hour later he was gone.
I cannot say enough about the great care he received at the hospital. We consider ourselves and Tom lucky because even though it was way too fast Tom was always coherent and never in pain.
My family would like to EVERYONE for all their kind thought, wishes and prayers.
The link for his service can be found by clicking the Ways to Help button then it is under the Support Links area.
Sunday, Oct. 13th Tom started throwing up I believe from the chemo. At 2:30 he wanted to get up. I asked if he needed help and he said yes. Our neighbor was having a party so I asked for his 2 strongest friends to help me get Tom to the car and off to the ER we went. In the ER they found blood clots in his lungs so he was admitted to ICU and put on strong blood thinners. He was moved from ICU to a regular room Monday late afternoon and we thought he was getting stronger. He had PT and OT and they talked about moving him to a rehab facility. Katie came home on Wednesday to check on her dad and Tim planned on coming home Thursday. Thursday morning at 7:30 am the hospital called to let me know they were moving him back to ICU they couldn't get his heart rate to come down all night and his blood pressure was getting too low so he needed more intensive care. As we arrived at the hospital Tom was sleeping and his blood pressure looked to be improving. Tom heard everything everyone said and would pipe in with questions or with his two cents worth. He got a big smile on his face when my sister-in-law, Joyce stopped by to visit. The doctor came in at 5 pm and told us the only thing keeping him alive were the meds. I asked Tom what he wanted and he told me he wanted hospice care. So that's what we did. About an hour later he was gone.
I cannot say enough about the great care he received at the hospital. We consider ourselves and Tom lucky because even though it was way too fast Tom was always coherent and never in pain.
My family would like to EVERYONE for all their kind thought, wishes and prayers.
The link for his service can be found by clicking the Ways to Help button then it is under the Support Links area.
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