Albert Rodney & Victoria Jeanette
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Saturday night at around 10PM, VL and I got calls from Phoebe Home.
Dad had gone into heart failure. He was not oxygenating well. Nurses had just gotten orders to start diuretic and antibiotics to help clear his lungs.
VL was considering a visit Saturday night. We had planned to go Sunday.
I called back an hour later and Dad had responded to the treatment and was resting.
We'll go Sunday as planned.
Thursday, October 30, 2003
From VL...
Was anxious to find out what's happening. Not a happy time.
Well, at least there's a plan and that, thank God, you discovered
The lump in the first place.
Jim and I are going to get PJ tomorrow. Will call you from the
Car.
vl
-----Original Message-----
From: Rod Murray [mailto:murray@netmcs.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 7:59 PM
To: vicki@animalbrands.com
Subject: Lin's Stuff
VL,
Sara doesn't know the details yet, so I may not be able to discuss fully
while she's up. Let's talk while I'm at work tomorrow.
The good news so far is that the lump is small and her nodes are not
enlarged, so we probably got it early.
Lin will probably have 'pre-surgery testing' next Friday, followed by a
lumpectomy the following Thursday, followed by several weeks of chemo,
followed by several weeks of radiation, etc., etc.
Very disturbing. what else can go wrong?
-Rod
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vicki Lynne Morgan"
To:
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 4:07 PM
Subject: RE: Dad's Stuff
> What a sad thing to learn. I'll call later.
> Tell Lin our prayers are with her.
> vl
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: murray@netmcs.com [mailto:murray@netmcs.com]
> Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 2:33 PM
> To: vicki@animalbrands.com
> Subject: Re: Dad's Stuff
>
>
> vl,
>
> thanks.
>
> I'm on my way to pick up Lin and take her to see the surgeon. Her
> biopsy was positive.
>
> -Rod
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vicki Lynne Morgan
> To: murray@netmcs.com
> Sent: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 11:39:53 -0500
> Subject: Dad's Stuff
>
> Tina called from New Seasons about 11 am. She's going to gather his
> clothing from the room (when Mom's not there) and take it to Phoebe
> for us.
>
> vl
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Dad is being transferred to the Phoebe Home on Thursday. The Lehigh Center would not take him because of his biliary drain bag.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Just got off the phone with Vicki at the Hospital
Vicki and Jim were there with Dad. Spoke with Dad briefly. Sounded like he was comfortable. Had some open sores on his rear bandaged etc. Vicki said he still showed some paranoia -- wouldn't talk to me at first because there was someone (nurse?) in the room.
Pending review by someone (Jim?) from Lehigh Center, Dad will be transferred there tomorrow. Dad seemed fine with that.
Vicki, Dr. Smith (resident) and I discussed the MRI and DNR issues. The medical team agreed that the MRI was not necessary at this point and was cancelled.
Vicki faxed me the 'Withholding Therapy Order Sheet' that would be in affect for Dad as long as he remains in the Hospital. We all agreed to check:
- No CPR, code blue
- No electrical defibrillation
- No mechanical ventilation
Vicki and Jim will visit Mom briefly and will stop at the house. Thanks, Vicki.
FINANCES
My concern is that if Dad was to die soon, his liquid assets would be tied up and we only have $4K in Mom's cash account. We must not sell stocks that have been held for a long time because of the capital gains taxes.
I called Linda Noonan, Esq...
When either parent dies, the trust reverts to the surviving spouse. However, she is almost certain that VL and I as executors would have almost immediate control of the funds, so we'd be able to access Dad's cash. LN will double check this and get back to me tomorrow.
However, she advised us to withdrawal the $14K gift ASAP for us (VL got the Buick as gift). As POA, we can also transfer funds between ARM's and VJM's accounts now, if we wish.
As for gifting...
She was a little fuzzy on gifting from their accounts. We'd have to be careful if the gift was to us, unless they had a history of gifting (ha!). However, this would only be an issue for Medicaid Law -- which is unlikely to be an issue unless Mom lives for 10 more years.
Immediate needs...
We need $5K plus for bills each month, $14K for the current 'gift', and say $10K to prepay both funerals -- say $30K for short term needs, i.e., November. Dad has $17K and Mom has $4K. $30K in treasury bills are coming due soon, but I don't know when just yet.
I called Mark Schaaf, the Wachovia account exec...
The first securies he would liquidate would be the Evergreen funds in Dad's account. Because of the fund rules, up to $40K can be sold by November 1st. The cash should appear in the cash account a few days later. He will do that on Monday and we should be OK for the next couple of months.
From Vicki...
DNR is OK. I guess I'll feel better about it after I see him today and
understand his state of mind.
I assumed that the MRI would be for purposes of identifying any
conditions relating to his mental state and the possibility of cancer
spreading and how he might be treated accordingly -- not specifically
because of the cancelled operation. However, if he's failing fast, I
guess it won't make any difference.
Did Smith give any further indications of his status at the time you
spoke with him? I'd like to leave around 1 or 2 pm or so, unless you
think we should go sooner.
vl
-----Original Message-----
From: murray@netmcs.com [mailto:murray@netmcs.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2003 11:16 AM
To: vicki@animalbrands.com
Subject: Tuesday etc
Vicki,
Talked to Smith. We don't think that we need to put Dad through another
MRI for academic reasons -- since he is no longer a surgical candidate.
I also talked to Jim at the Nursing station to ask if Dad was
designated 'Do Not Resusitate'. He said he was not but he would bring
it up with the Docs today. I think he should be DNR. The 'Directions'
don't really cover that, but we both have medical POA according to the
POA docs. Do you agree?
Also, I set up a payment from Mom's account so you should receive a
$500 check in a couple of days.
-Rod
Talked to Dr. Hoover this morning. Dad seems better this morning but now agrees that unless Dad bounces back, he is no longer a candidate for surgery.
Talked to Dr. Smith (resident). We don't think that we need to put Dad through another MRI for academic reasons -- since he is no longer a surgical candidate.
I also talked to Jim at the Nursing station to ask if Dad was designated 'Do Not Resusitate'. He said he was not but he would bring it up with the Docs today. I think he should be DNR. The 'Directions' don't really cover that, but Vicki and I both have medical POA according to the POA docs.
Monday, October 27, 2003
Monday, Dad lost it... When I was finally able to reach him on the phone, the conversation started out quite rationally. He asked if he was supposed to be on 15 or 30 mg of MS Contin. I said that he had been on 30 but the Hospital had the old list which said 15. I told him to ask for more if he had pain, since the Hospital docs are in charge now.
Then he told me his bizarre story, most of which surrounded his roommate behind the curtain. He felt his life was in danger; nurses were giving him the wrong drugs and doing strange things to his body. 3 different 'wives' came past his bed on the way to his roommates bed -- where he heard them having sex. Strange noises, lights and smoke made him believe the place was on fire. His life was in danger and all those nice nurses were also in on it.
I called Dr. Sciala and relayed the situation to him.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
What a day...
Vicki and I had planned to go up on Sunday to bring more of Dad's clothes from the house.
At around 5AM we got a call from NewSeasons that Dad had fallen out of bed and was taken to the hospital.
We both arrived in the ER at about 10AM. Dad didn't know what happened. They said his CAT scan was OK and were ready to release him back to the 'nursing home'. After I talked to the ER doc, they agreed that he needed to be watched and would admit him.
I helped Dad with his 'toileting' and we helped him with lunch. Vicki talked to the case workers about his discharge options.
We went to the house and collected more clothes and stopped at Boston Market for lunch.
Returning to NewSeasons, we found Mom in the restaurant having her lunch. She said Dad had been acting 'strange' but couldn't elaborate. She claims to have discovered him on the floor in the morning and called for the caretakers.
We went back to the house and spent 2 hours sifting the trash from the saleable in the garage. We each took away an inkjet printer.
We went back to the hospital. Dad was finally in his own room. Nursing staff said that NewSeasons didn't have a copy of Dad's Advance Directives. I called Lin and she faxed our copy to the hospital.
He asked for his glasses. Vicki made a trip back to NewSeasons while I helped him eat dinner. When she returned, I left for home -- around 6:30pm.
