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- About Me:
- I grew up in Dallas, Texas. I now live in Birmingham, Alabama with my second husband. I have a beautiful daughter, Megan, who now lives with her boyfriend in Fayetteville, Arkansas. And I have a very special son, Andrew, who died in Dallas July, 7, 2012.
- About my Loss:
- My son, Andrew, was born in Dallas, June 2, 1987. He was born with a heart defect called Truncus Arteriosis and a Ventricular Septal Defect. We were sent to San Francisco for heart correction surgery at 3 months old. Long recovery, but he survived. He had another open heart at 4 years old and that went well too. Andrew had some learning disabilities that went along with his medical problems, but he did good and survived the growing up school years. During high school, he developed some of the most awesome friends...friends that loved him in spite of his inadequacies. And friends that wanted to help and protect him. I was so thrilled for him. He had another heart surgery in 2010, this time to replace a heart valve, and thankfully, all went well. But that started us on a new routine of more meds (Coumadin) and weekly/monthly checks of blood levels, and constant dosing changes. Andrew grumbled a little, but he persevered. Then February of 2012, he became ill and I had to rush him to ER where in was in a critical ventricular arrhythmia which almost killed him. The medical team got him stabilized, and we found out his heart valve that had been replaced was deteriorating due to bacteria. He had another critical heart surgery, here in Birmingham. After a very long recovery and rehabilitation, he came home in April. Although still recovering and very weak, my husband and I got to take him to the beach in May. One of my favorite pictures is from that trip. Then for July 4th, he wanted very much to visit grandparents in Dallas and celebrate at their lakehouse. He drove to Dallas the end of June. He complained of not feeling well, and after several days (thinking it was a virus he'd get over) I told my parents to get him to the hospital. I immediately flew to be with him. After a few days in the hospital, they found he had MRSA in his bloodstream. This is the "superbug" that's extremely dangerous and especially for a kid like this who has immune deficiencies due to his birth defects. But people do recover, and as a nurse, I knew it meant a long time in the hospital with IV antibiotics. I didn't leave his side. And on the morning of July 7, he was complaining of such a BAD headache. I summoned his nurse to get pain meds, he went to lower the head of the bed, and he just "went down". I screamed "don't leave me Andrew", but he never came back. The medical team "coded" him and got him intubated. We had a long afternoon of waiting to get CT results and finally, around 6 pm, they took us back to his room. He'd had a severe brain hemorrhage and there was no brain activity left. His father and I, and the rest of his loving family, had to make the horrible decision to let him go. We gathered around him, and the nurses removed the respirator. His death was quick. ...................................my death is ongoing. Although he endured way too many medical procedures/surgeries/tests in his short life, I do believe he was a happy person and liked his life. He loved his family. He loved his friends and "hangin out". I am thankful he left this world sudden and probably without pain. But I miss his sweet person terribly! 💔💔💔
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