Another Bad Tuesday in January

This month has not been going all that well. As mentioned in an earlier post Jason's Uncle Aldo passed away on Tuesday, January 15. We had just dealt, that sounds so harsh, so maybe tried to deal with that loss the best we can and had gone back to work on Tuesday, January 22 (after having Monday off to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.) when I get a phone call around 10:00 a.m. from my cousin Carol letting me know that my Aunt Cathy passed away after valiantly trying to fight her way back to health that morning. Aunt Cathy had been in Ohio in October 2007 visiting family. To make a long story short, she was immediately admitted to ICU with septic shock. The family was told at 10:00 pm. on Wed nite, that she would not make it thru the nite. By noon the next day, her kidneys started to function again & was still here!! See directly below for an explanation of Sepsis which causes septic shock.

Sepsis is a life-threatening illness. Your body's response to a bacterial infection usually causes it. Your immune system goes into overdrive, overwhelming normal processes in your blood. The result is that small blood clots form, blocking blood flow to vital organs. This can lead to organ failure. Babies, old people and those with weakened immune systems are most likely to get sepsis. But even healthy people can become deathly ill from it. A quick diagnosis can be crucial, because one third of people who get sepsis die from it.

Sepsis is usually treated in a hospital intensive care unit (ICU). IV antibiotics and fluids may be given to try to knock out the infection and to keep blood pressure from dropping too low. Patients may also need respirators to help them breathe.

She was in the ICU and then a rehabilitation center until December 16 at which time she was brought back to Texas and set up at a rehabilitation center closer to home. She was able to see her newest grandbaby - Avery and celebrate Christmas and New Years with her family. She had ups and downs and was still struggling, but everyone thought she would pull through one more time in Aunt Cathy fashion! But alas, it was not to be... it ended up being just too much and after fighting a good fight decided it was time to go forth and join the Lord. I'm sure that she figured that someone else needed to help my Aunt Mary make sure that my sister Cheryl and my cousin John were behaving themselves :-)

Mom and I flew down to be with family to offer support and comfort and be comforted. My Aunt Cathy will be missed by many, many people - friends and family alike.