Mickey's First Bithday Party pictures

Finally pictures from Mickey's First Birthday party!

Mary in 2006

Here is Mary back in 2006...

Mary Frances Young… Rest In Peace

In my continued effort to keep the blog up to date it’s time for a tough post about my little sister, Mary Frances Young.

In early August my sister Mary was pulled over for a DWI.  She tested so high that the police took her to the hospital.  She spent a week or so in the hospital going through a detox treatment.  The doctors told her if she drank again, it would kill her.  As oppose to some other members of my family, she listened to them.  She attended Alcoholics Anonyms meets and really was trying to turn her life around. 

Unfortunately at the end of August she had more health problems.  She was admitted to the hospital and they found that Mary had liver failure.  But it seemed that she was on the mends.  Below is an update from my sister Cindy who visited her. 

9/8/2011
For quite some time, Mary has been suffering from severe hemmoriods accompanied with bleeding. After several trips to Onslo hospital in Jacksonville, NC, she called to was admitted to the hospital in Wilmington, NC., late August. Last Tuesday (8/30/11) my mother was called by Mary to tell her that she is extremely sick. That she has stage-4 cirrhosis of the liver. My mother flew in the next morning. In the meantime, beside worrying, I started my search for info of this disease.

I spoke with Mary last Tues through Thurs, she was in a lot of pain, but otherwise, her cheery self. When I called on Friday (9/2/11), she was crying, as she was so confused and couldn't remember things. That night, actually early Sat. morning, she stopped breathing. She was worked on by the medical staff and taken to ICU. She had began with a mask taped to her which she received oxygen. Sat night-Sun morning she deteriorated to having to be sedated and put on a ventilator. Most of Sunday night I spent researching, as at that time I was under the impression that she had beginning stage-4 cirrhosis.

However, at that time, I knew that she was severely jaundiced, her ammonia levels in her body were extremely high, she was having bleeding from her rectum, and was on total life support. I was shocked by what I had discovered by 3 am Monday morning. She is in end-stage cirrhosis.

I spoke with both Bill and my Mother that morning. From the answers to several questions, I knew that neither knew of the gravity of her condition. Neither had been able to speak with a doctor since Friday. I called and talked with the ICU nurse. She said that she had very little, if any, liver function. I got a plane ticket for the next morning.

When I got here on Tues (9/6/11), I went straight to the hospital. I spoke with the ICU nurse and she informed me that Mary had been deteriorating rapidly. There was very little, but some, liver cells alive. She has extreme fluid build-up in both her lungs and stomach. She is unable to breathe on her own. After my visit with Mary, I met with the hospital's equivalency of a hospice nurse. She was very polite, but every time I asked specific questions, I was met with "That's something you'll have to ask the doctor." Our meeting concluded, and as I waited for Mom and Bill to arrive, I was approached by a lady from St. Mary's Parrish. She had been seeing Mary everyday. She came to see if the family was in need of a priest. This is the very thing that was in my notes to have done. We agreed that Father Kuz would come at 6 pm to perform the "Sacrament of the Sick". I found out later that Mary had, the last day that she were conscious, received "Viaticum" (Last Holy Communion).

Mom & Bill arrived and I talked to Bill of the information that I had discovered. Neither he nor Mom knew her condition status. All three of us spoke with the hospice nurse for a while. We felt as if we were in a fog. No specifics, again the "You'll have to speak with the doctor", so I said, "Well where the hell is the doctor and why isn't he here explaining, because quite frankly, as friendly as you are, I'm not here to make friends, I need some answers." We were assured that the doctor would call in the morning to arrange a meeting. Up most of the night reviewing my research and writing more questions to prepare for the meeting.

Tues. morning, after a few calls, I was told that Dr. Neal was not in today. I said I had been waiting, but have to take Mom to store, but then I'll be right over, and I am going to speak with a doctor TODAY!

While at the store with Mom, her cell rings. I hear " But we're just across the street and we will be right there ...."  I took the phone from her, and its Dr. Neal. He's leaving the hospital and busy for the rest of the day, but might be able to see us sometime tomorrow. In a not very quiet voice I say, " I don't give a shit how busy you are, my baby sister is dying ad we are going to be seen Today!" He politely asked if we could meet him in the ICU at 5pm.

We met and had a very informative meeting. We know that she is in end-stage cirrhosis.

Here are the conditions that Mary is suffering from:

• Liver-failure
• Ascites (abdominal swelling, fluids)
• Haptic Encephalopathy (confused mental state due to high ammonia levels)
• Jaundice (yellow skin & eyes)
• Variceal Bleeding (rectal bleeding)
• Spontaneous Bacterial Peritonitis (high white blood cell counts)
• Hypernatremia (low electrolytes)
• Esophageal Varices (enlarged veins lower esophagus)
• Portal Hypertension (hypertension of hepatic portal vein)
• Septic shock, bacteria in bloodstream
• ARDS (acute lung injury)
  Edema (swelling in most of her body)
• Pneumonia

What she does NOT have:

• Brain damage
• Hepatorenal Syndrome (kidney failure)

She is not in a coma, but sedated to keep her on the ventilator.

Each day she is being assessed by a team of ICU doctors.

Right now there are no plans to remove her from the ventilator.

Dr. Neal went through a list of conditions that may (must) improve before that is an option.

He was encouraging that she may be able to get a little stronger, that should they be able to take the ventilator out, she could still have a chance for some visiting.

She's going to always need medical attention, constantly. We will have to take it day-by-day for right now. Since Mary is going to be in ICU for quite sometime, I'm bringing Mom home later today. She's exhausted in many ways. I convinced her that while Mary is in ICU, to come home for a bit and get some rest. We'll come back later.

I will be calling the ICU at least everyday. They said call anytime, and you can bet I will.

She did seem to improve over the next week or so.

9/12/2011

Good news!

The ventilator was removed about 8:30 this morning. Mary is still in alot of pain, among other things, but she is awake and responding.

In fact, Bill had gone to visit about an hour ago and she told him to shut up and get out of here!

Gotta love her!

9/20/2011

I went to Wilmington on Friday 9/16/11 to see Mary. Mom & I got there pretty late, so we stopped the hospital for a quick "Hi" and to tell her we'd be back Saturday in the morning.

We went on Saturday and had a real good visit. She was alert and had no evidence of brain fog. We had a great day. We came back again on Sunday. Another great day, but she had some swelling of her leg and abdomen. Mom & I stayed for a long while. I even gave her a pedicure before we left. She was supposed to have some of the fluid removed from her stomach on Monday morning, around 7ish. I was going to go to the hospital early and let Mom sleep in a bit.

   Bill called me about 7:45 am and said Mary was in pain and crying (He was not nearby, but I was). I left right away. I got to her room and she was cold, so I got a warm blanket and laid in her bed and snuggled her to warm her up. The medical personnel came and got her to go to the room to do the fluid removal.

   Things went south from there. I don't want to go into the details, but she was taken to ICU, as she had severe internal bleeding and could not be repaired.

Mary died at 11:03 pm Monday, September 19, 2011.

The funeral was September 26.  It was a very nice funeral as funerals go, but it was a funeral.  I’ll try to put together a summary of our life together in the future.

New Job at Ft. Meade

It’s been a little while since I’ve posted an update so I’ll start with my new job.

I’ve been looking for a job close to home for years.  I’ve been applying for jobs as a Federal employee through www.USAJobs.com without any luck for a few years too.  In March/April I applied for a job and waited.  In June I heard back from the government and they asked if I was still interested.  Of course I was and we proceeded with the hiring process.  I started working for the US Army as a civilian on August 15.  I’ve been there about  weeks now and really like it! 

I work with a lot of enlisted soldiers and because me military rank would essentially be a Major, they all call me Mr. Young.  It just seems odd, I am use to referring to people that I work with by their first name and a lot of times when they come into my office, they stand at attention. I am the civilian IT supervisor for a new brigade.  This is where I want to be in my career.  Who knows where is will go, but I am happy in my career for the first time in a long time!