I am behind again..Lots has been happening..I had to take Phill to the hospital on 1/28/11 he had a terrible pain in his abdomen..Of course when they did CT Scan it showed that his one remaining kidney was infected..They admitted us..By us I mean us..I always stay with him whenever he is in the hospital because he won't let them do anything unless I okay it..Well we got the kidney looking better after putting in nephrostomy tube and IV antibiotics and then he developed an illeus..started treating that and then he went into A-fib..got him back into normal sinus rhythm and then kidney started causing problems again..creatinine levels up and down for days..then he developed CHF..finally after almost 3 weeks they told us he could go to a rehab center or go home with hospice..after much discussion with Phill and the boys, Phill opted to go home..Mark stayed with him on 2/16 and I came home and made preparations to get him home..we had him transported by ambulance since he needed 15 liters of O2. We got him home 2/17 in the evening and he was so happy to get here..Mark, Hans and Belinda stayed with us all night and everyone was here most of the next day..The evening of the 18th with Mark, Hans, David and I beside his bed, he returned to his Heavenly Father..Someone said you did so much work to get him set up at home for such a short time, but let me tell you it was worth it even if he had lasted only a few minutes..He wanted to be home and we wanted him here.
We had his funeral on 2/26 and everything was so lovely..We only had family members on the program except for the Branch President of the church. We had the services at the Sandy Valley LDS Church and burial in the Goodsprings Cemetery..There was standing room only in the church and at the luncheon afterwards we were packed in like sardines..Phill was loved and respected by everyone he ever came in contact with..Prelude and postlude music was by our niece Annette, our granddaughter Lacie sang "Beautiful Isle of Somewhere", Phill's brother Ralph and his wife Linda sang "In the Garden", opening prayer was by niece Annie, closing prayer was by nephew Scott, nephew Douglas gave a wonderful talk and wrote a great poem, son Hans gave a wonderful tribute to Dad,daughter-in-law Lori gave an awesome talk, brother Ralph gave a great talk, nephew Richard dedicated the grave..I am truly blessed to have such a great and talented family. Grandsons David & Heath, nephews Richard, Douglas, Scott & Kevin were the pallbearers.
I had family here for over a week, and they would let me do nothing..now I just need to convince everyone that I can stay alone and don't need a babysitter..Guess I should be grateful that they all care..I rode into Vegas with Bonnie late this afternoon and when I got home I was informed that everyone was worried sick about me because I had failed to let them know where I was..Ha ha, the shoe is on the other foot now!!!
It was hard to let Phill go, but I know he is no longer suffering and that he is with Thad, Gery and Ronnie..I am so thankful to have Hans right next door and Mark a block away..David,our grandson, is looking to move back to Goodsprings and that would be great..Val is only 6 hours away in Scottsdale so that is doable in a day.
I will try to post more often and hopefully the future posts will be more upbeat..Thanks to everyone that sent cards, flowers, food and for all the moral support..You never appreciate family and friends until you really need them..I have the best. Ruthie
