Good bye

I head that there was problems with the audio for the streaming video, sorry about that. I hope the video was enough. if you would like a copy of the video email me and i'll send you a copy.

I placed the farewell letter in the coffin.

My Mom's body has been laid to rest. The need for this blog is done. Thank you for reading it and watching for updates. It has helped me a lot to write it down and to have you read it. It's going to be tough for me and Dad. This blog will be one of those things that i'll remember that will help me get over some of the rough spots. if you need to talk to me about anything you can email me. Take care, God Bless

Good bye

Live Video Stream For Mom's Funeral @ 1:00PM Friday

Funeral starts at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time Friday July 11, Camera will likely start before 1:00 p.m.

I won't have a chat open as i can't moderate it. Feel free to create your own and post the location of the chat in the comments section.

email me (mithrang "at" yahoo.com ) if you have any requests/questions before Friday Morning.

http://live.yahoo.com/sylviacoleman

Obituary

This is the obituary for Mom written by my Aunt Rose.

Sylvia Coleman
April 26, 1950- July 7, 2008

Sylvia Coleman passed away peacefully Monday, July 07, 2008 in Royal Inland Hospital surrounded by her immediate family. Sylvia was born in Swan River, MB, and completed her nurse’s training in Winnipeg. She spent the first year of her marriage in Kenora, ON prior to moving to Merritt in 1971. She was employed by Princeton General Hospital until 2002. Sylvia courageously battled breast cancer, and as a cancer survivor worked very hard to support and encourage others going through a similar battle. Many of the participants in the Cancer Care Network looked upon Sylvia as someone who was always there for them and benefited from her care and support.

Sylvia enjoyed socializing with friends and family and the numerous friends she met on-line. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. She was a nurse who had a keen interest in healthcare. She was warm and loving to all who knew her, and did not hesitate to extend a helping hand to those in need.
Left to cherish her memory are her husband Harold, son Darren, grandchildren Benjamin and Abby, mother Pearl Balan, sisters Iris (George) Rauch and Rose Balan, and numerous extended family members. Sylvia was predeceased by her son Dennis in 2001.

If friends so wish, a donation to the Canadian Diabetes Association or the Canadian Cancer Society in Sylvia’s name would be greatly appreciated.

The funeral service will be held on Friday, July 11, 2008 at the Crossroads Community Church at 1:00 pm.

Farewell Letter

If you would like to send a farewell letter to mom add a comment to this post. I'll print them off the day of the funeral and place them in her coffin.

Funeral Date/Time

The funeral will be Friday July 11, 1:00 p.m. at

Crossroads Community Church‎
2990 Voght Street
Merritt, BC V1K 1C8, Canada
(250) 378-2911

You will not find a hotel in Merritt as the "merritt mountain music fest" is on at the same time. If you are unable to stay with family/friends I would suggest that you stay in Kamloops or Kelowna and drive in to Merritt the day of the funeral. Both cities are 1 hour away from Merritt by car. Leave a little earlier then you think you would need, traffic will be bad getting into Merritt.


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Funeral plans

Watch the Blog for funeral plans.

Mom's gone

Mom's gone.

July 7th now

It's july 7th now... Mom is still with us. But they removed the vent

Tough part is my brother died on july 7 2001. I don't know what to make of that.

Family is here

Aunt iris, aunt rose , Dad and me are with mom. She's still with us.

Tonight

It doesn't look like she'll make it through the night

Darren

More Detail on what's going on

The doctor said that the oxygen/gas levels in her blood are too low, they can't sustain her organs. They don't expect her to recover from this, they are seeing her levels trend down. She they expect to be gone in the next 12 to 24 hours. The cause may have been a blood clot in her lungs but they can't do the test as it would be too invasive right now.

Her eyes are open a little but she's constantly looking left to right. she does not responds to any questions. She isn't in a lot of pain.

As things change i'll update the blog.

12 to 24 hours

Mom is starting to slowly fade. We have about 12 to 24 hours

Send a msg to Sylvia

If you would like me to read a message to sylvia make a comment on this blog post. I'll take it in and read it to her.

Make it something to the point, not a novel. Make it about something you've been up to while mom's been in the hospital. She hasn't heard from a lot of her friends in a while.

Also make a note if your apart of Family, CCN, Church, compassionate friends or any group my mom is a part of. if you're not a part of these groups i doesn't matter.

Don't forget to put your name in. I'll read them as they come in so if you think you missed sending her a msg don't worry. i'll get to them as they are added.

Do not resuscitate/Do not ventilate

My mom gave out an Do not resuscitate order today.

She's having problems with her kidneys. retaining a lot of water.

Back in ICU

Mom's is back in ICU. Heart trouble again and again maybe related to what got her in there in the first place.

Until she's out of the hospital it's going to be a lot of "2 steps forward, 1 step back". It's going to be a slow process of getting her out. Like i said before she's going to be in there at least all summer.

Back in stepdown unit

Mom's back in the step down unit. If all goes well she'll be put back into a regular ward.

Ben & Abby came to visit

Ben and Abby, mom's grand kids, came to visit on sunday. Jody and Paul drove in and visited with mom for a while. Mom hadn't see the kids in a while. It was a little tough on the kids seeing Grandma hooked up to the wires and tubes but after a little while it wasn't so bad.

Still sick

It appears that whatever put her in the hospital in the first place isn't gone.

Back in ICU

Mom's back in ICU

Back in Step Down Unit

Mom is back in the Step Down Unit. She has had some heart arrhythmia last night or today.

In regular ward now

Mom is in a general ward now. Still talks very poorly. still on feeding tube as she can't swallow well. She's sick of being in the hospital.

Doctors are still deciding if they should insert a feeding tube straight into her stomach or not, it will all depend if she can regain her ability to talk and swallow.

if you go to visit her do not feed her ice or water, you are not doing her a favor. feeding her water will put fluids straight into her lungs and just makes things worse.

still extremely weak, working with physiotherapy to gain strength so she can walk.

moving to step down

Mom is being moved to "step down" tonight and apparently being moved out of isolation. "Step down" is the area between intensive care and regular ward care.

She doesn't want to be in the hospital anymore and would like to go home. she hasn't regained her ability to talk yet.

Communicating from her bed is very difficult as there's not wireless access inside the hospital, as it is they don't like cell phones. She's still very weak, even writing with a pen and paper can be tiring for her. Talking is extremely difficult, she can barley put out a whisper. 

throat trouble

Mom is  having trouble with her throat. she can't make voice sounds anymore, there appears to be no damage just she has lost the ability to do it. this ties into her ability to swallow. if she drinks some water half will go into her stomach the other half could go into her lungs. There is a chance that trake will never come out. They are also looking into putting a feeding tube in her side, they then can remove the tube going into her stomach through her nose. She doesn't talk, she'll mouth the words but nothing will come out.

She doesn't have a lot of energy, trying to get off of her bed and standing takes a lot out of her. she's exhausted after doing that. The infection that got her into the hospital  in the first place seems to have passed or is almost finished going through her body.

I don't see the chance of my mom leaving the hospital for the rest of the summer.

Hospital address

hospital address

Royal Inland Hospital


311 Columbia Street
Kamloops, 

British Columbia
V2C 2T1
Canada

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back in isolation

mom is back in isolation. doctor wanted to be on the safe side and decided to isolate her again. Not a lot of energy. they are slowly working on physiotherapy. 

she's working on talking. right now she can talk but it's just a whisper. this is due to the air tube that she had and also the tracheotomy.

Not in isolation

I didn't mention this before but Mom was in isolation when she came back to Kamloops. She was exposed to drug resistant bacteria in St. Paul's and had to be in isolation. when she arrived in kamloops. She wasn't ill because of it; she was labeled a carried and was a risk to patients in intensive care. Today they cleared her and she is not required to be isolated.

Not in step down unit or regular ward yet. They have her moving around a little. I was told that she was able to walk around her bed once bed before she got too tired.

Not doing bad

Went to see mom today. She's looking better then she looked yesterday. She's acting frustrated as she's tied of being in the hospital and unable to talk.

Aunt Iris, aunt Rose, and Kim came by to visit mom. Couldn't visit for too long.

Saw mom at lunch

Saw mom at lunch. She's not looking too bad. She's alert and awake. She can't take because of the trake but she can mouth words. She can also write notes, so if you come to visis you should bring pen and paper. Large "post it notes" look like they would be good to use. Going after work to visit her.

She's still in ICU but there's talk about puting her in a "step down" ward.

mom's in kamloops

they moved her today at 10:00 am. I guess my Dad was assuming they would call to let us know she was moved.

still in van

Mom is still at st. Paul's. Waiting me helicopter to transfer her to Kamloops, there's a bed waiting for her there. They've put in a smaller trake tube, from what i've been told she can talk, but it's very quiet.

Not transfered yet

They didn't transfer her to Kamloops yet. Kamloops doesn’t have any beds open. They expect to move her Tuesday or Wednesday

looks like mom is coming to Kamloops

Everything went fine over the weekend. she passed the 24hr period. when she gets to kamloops they'll put in a smaller trake tube. Not a lot of energy yet. she'll be leaving st. Paul's at 10:00 am. still sick but now being closer to merritt dad and i can visit her daily. not sure if she'll be in intensive care or not

Doing fine

There is talk about moving her back to kamloops as soon as monday. It will all depend is she can breath on her own without the ventilator for 24 hours. If she can breath then they'll move her back to kamloops, closer to her family.

Sitting up, a little physiotherapy

We may have over stated that my mom was walking around, she can't really walk around quite yet. she's sitting up in bed on her own. They are doing some physiotherapy with her. She's not walking around her bed. Recovery from this is still a long while away.

Aunt Iris, Uncle George, and Aunt Rose are going to see Mom on the weekend

Walking around slowly

Dad just phone me to tell me that mom is walking around a little bit and they are working on getting her moving. Every 4 hours or so they shut off the ventilator to see how she'll do. Tracheotomy is still in place. everythings sounds like the positive direction we were hoping for. She's still not over yet, still in intensive care

Dad went down to visit Mom

Dad left to visit mom today

Testing with no vent

Dad call the hospital this morning, they are testing how mom does with no ventilator. They'll shut it off for a few hours and watch how she does. Still has the fever.

Doing fine with the Tracheotomy

Mom is doing fine with the Tracheotomy. It's scary to see the tube in her throat but once you get past that you realize that it's a lot better then the tube going down her throat. There's no sedation so you can communicate with her now.

She can't talk due to the Tracheotomy but she can shrug her shoulders, and nod or shake her head. She's alert and aware of her situation, she just doesn't have a lot of energy.

She's on the lowest setting on the ventilator, still waiting on the infection to leave. The advantage of the Tracheotomy is they can manage her breathing a little better then with just a tube, a little less chance for infection and if an air tube is in for too long it can hurt the vocal cords.

Dad is back in Merritt, I'm back in Kamloops

Tracheotomy

Mom had her Tracheotomy. No problems from surgery. Dad and I are both in Vancouver

Tracheotomy tomorrow

mom is going to have a Tracheotomy tomorrow. She's not ready to come of the ventilator however if they keep her on it there's a good chance they'll damage her vocal cords.

Dad's with mom

Dad's with mom in St. Pauls. I'm going down later. No big changes, mom has a bit of a fever.

Back on Ventilator

Mom is back on the Ventilator, Dad called early this morning to let me know. This was not unexpected. There's always a chance that someone will go back if things don't quite workout

Off Ventilator

Talked to Dad, said Mom is off the ventilator. They are watching her carfully, if there is any negitive changes they will put her back on.

Margaret's Visit

I got an email from Margaret, here's what she had to say after visiting my mom

Hi Darren
Visited your Mom this evening. . Tomorrow they are expecting to remove her respirator. She looks alot better and her vital signs are stabilized and good according to the present nurse attending her. Will update you after my next visit.
Sylvia's Cousin
Margaret

Dad and I back in Merritt

Visited Mom this morning. fever is down a little bit today when we left. They are keeping her sedation levels low, dialing back ventilator again aswell. Everything is still going in a positive direction, just slowly.

Tough but Good day for everyone

Mom is carefully being transitioned from her current state to being off the ventilator. she's still on the ventilator but has low to no sedation on her now. She's aware of her surrounding and knows where she is but the tough part is she can't say anything yet, her motor skill aren't good enough for her to write, she doesn't have a lot if any energy if any at all.

Talked with a Doctor today, they feel positive about Mom's recovery. They expressed that she's nowhere near the worst person in intensive care, still serious like anyone in intensive care. 

Current Nurse is a nice guy. He's been doing a good job looking after Mom and helping deal with the stress that Dad and I are going through. Our experience at St. Paul's has been great. We would like her to be in Kamloops or Kelowna so we can see her without driving 4 hrs but they are doing a great job at St. Pauls

Today's visit

Aunt rose, Aunt Iris, and Uncle George visited Mom yesterday and today. Aunt Rose is staying for one more day. 

Mom is on a very low level of sedation but still has the ventilator. She is responsive, when ask if she knows she's in St. Paul's she nods her head. She wiggles her toes, tries to shift herself around in bed. You can asker simple yes and know questions and she'll answer. So things are moving forward.

She's slowly working through her infection. It's going to be a long while before she gets over this.

Moved to Intensive Care

Mom was in cardiac care when she first arrived in St. Paul’s, they've now moved here to intensive care as she isn't a heart patient.

She is still on ventilator but dialling back on sedation more. The Hospital is being careful about removing the ventilator. Removing the sedation without removing the ventilator would be very uncomfortable. The ventilator is there to assist in her breathing, not breath for her.

She’s opening her eyes more now, which is expected as they are reducing the sedation. She moves her hands and feet when asked to do so.

Dad and i are going to visit her tommorow

Dialing back sedation

Still on ventilator, they are dialing back her sedation levels so they can get her to a level where should could breath on her own.

They won't be moving her in the to kamloops quite yet.

Remeber that she is diabedic, it takes longer for her to rebound from health problems. She's on her own schedule of recovery, not ours.

Weds update

Dad talk to he nurse again today. Nothing new to report, still on ventilator. Still not decided on if they will send her to kamloops or not.

Update for Tues

Still on ventilator. Dad talked with doctors today. We may find out on Wednesday or Thursday if she'll be sent back to Kamloops or Kelowna

No Change

Dad called the hospital today, no change yet. Still on ventilator. Waiting to hear if they are going to move her closer to home.

Doc update

Just talked with doc, they are talking about sending her back to kamloops or kelowna as they are equiped to look after her now. Could be sent back as early as Wednesday.

Still on ventilator but expect to remove it in the next day or 2. Still critical but everything is slowly moving forward.

Dad and I are driving home now.

Dad and I going back

Dad and I are going back to Merritt today. We'll be visiting Mom one more time before we go. Dad plans on coming back on Tuesday or wednesday.  I'll still be updating the blog as we get information

No big changes

No big changes.

Still on ventilator, tried to take the ventilator off but she wasn't ready today but wasn't ready.

Some news

Dad and Aunt Rose talked to the nurse this afternoon. There's talk about reducing the use of the ventilator either today or tomorrow. I'm guessing if they can remove the ventilator then then can remove all the sedation.

We missed talking with the doctors this afternoon.

New visitors

Mom's Cousin Margaret(left) and Aunt Rose(right) came by today to visit. Luvie, another cousin of mom's, has also stopped by as well  to visit mom but Dad and i missed speaking with her in person.

Up tick

Nurse said that things are looking a bit better today so that's good to hear. Still on assisted breathing. Still under sedation but at low levels . She's much more responsive when asked to squeeze her hand or wiggle her toes.

Waiting for today's visit from the doctors

aunt rose is also here now.

Have Question for Doctor?

Does anyone have questions for Dad and I to ask the doctors? If you do add a comment to this post and we'll try to look into it.

Thursday afternoon

No significant change since last post. She is passing more fluids which is good.

The Doctor said this afternoon  she has  an infection in the stomach. I've said in previous posts that it was the lungs, I was told that by a nurse this morning. Bit of a mix up there. At this point we can say it's an infection probably in the stomach. Doctor said the lungs are fine.

Try not to worry. The doctors and nurses are looking after Sylvia; Dad and I have confidence in the St. Paul staff. At this stage it's more about waiting things out then doing something.

Aunt Rose (mom's little sister) will be visiting tomorrow

Rose Balan, one of my Aunts and mom's little sister, will be visiting tomorrow. 

What she can do

my dad and i have taken a break from waiting at her bed side. 

She will respond when you ask her to open her eyes and when you ask her to squeeze your hand. She is still sedated, this is because of all the tubes as it can be very uncomfortable. They however are going to reduce the sedation as it interferes with the healing process. they won't totally remove it as it would be unbearable for her however they don't want her too sedated as that would slow or interfere with the healing process

Thurs

They did a CT scan in the area of her stomach last night looking for an infection but didn't find anything. So it looks like it's all coming from the lungs.

She doesn't look worse today which is good.

On strong antibiotics to catch anything that maybe in her system

Still on breathing assistantance

Comments are open

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If you want to comment on a post

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email for Regina

An email i got from Regina

Hi Darren:

I hope you don't mind me e-mailing you. Thank you for keeping everyone posted about your mom, Please tell her she is in my thought's and prayer's. Sly is a great lady and she is loved by many, Sly is a strong lady and a lot of prayers are being said for her. God Bless you and your family.

Hug's
Regina

if you have something you would like to share let met know. I'll tell my mom when she's feeling better

Meet with doc

ok it's sepsis, some type of infection that is in her body. the doc feels like she has a 75% chance of making it. Now that's not an awesome number but we've been in worse so that number to me isn't so bad.

The doctor expects her to get worse over the next day or 2 BUT the hope is after that she may improve. It sounds like the next 5 to 6 days are going to be the most critical. If she can get through the next 5 to 6 days and her health improves over those days then her chances will improve. the doctor did stress that her type two  diabetes does make things more complicated

She is semi awake. She can tell we are there and acknowledged our presence. She isn't breathing on her own right now.

They are giving her a CT scan tonight to get a more complete diagnosis 

dad and i have gone to the hotel for the night

Right now

Haven't talked with doc yet. Right now she's in the cardiac care unit however the nurse said she is being moved to intensive care as she doesn't look like a heart condition issue

Location of Dad and i

Dad and I are at sandman on Davies. We both have our cells

First day @ St.Pauls

Not much changed. Giving her blood to boost hemoglobins. Heart stronger then they thought. She may have an infection that may have gone septic. Meeting with doctors later on tonight to talk with Dad and I

She is semi awake
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Air transported to St.Paul's

My mom is currently being air transported to vancouver. I'm guessing she should be there by now

My dad and i will be driving down to Vancouver right now. Picking a few things up at home

It appears she is suffering from congetive heart failure

we're going down to st. Paul's to see what they can do for her their.

She is currently not breathing on her own, she has a breathing tube going into her lungs.