Anita Carol Harber’s Memorial

My mother, Anita Carol Harber was airlifted from Lauderdale County Hospital in Ripley, Tennessee to Baptist Memorial Hospital Memphis - East on November 21, 2017 at 4AM. She suffered from an aorta dissection and desecending aneurysm (below the heart.) When she arrived in the CVICU, her lead attending physician Dr. McGrew from the Stern Cardiovascular Foundation and her cardiovascular surgeons, Dr. Wolfe and Dr. Sceeba said she was severely suffering from blockages in her SM artery (supplies blood to the intestines) and her celiac artery (supplies blood to the liver and intestines). So, the surgery to remove the aneurysm had to wait. She had a scheduled bypass surgery the very next morning, on November 22, 2017. During her surgery, the CV surgeons removed her gallbladder (due to failure) and used a vein from her left leg to try to bypass the blockages in her liver and intestines. The surgeons said that her liver was entirely black when they opened her up abdomen; but once they successfully bypassed the liver; it lit back up to a pink color. Her intestines were successfully bypassed as well. It took Anita 48 hours to come off anesthesia and to regain movement. Once she regained consciousness, her nurses were told to put her on a sedation intravenous drip medication, (she would heal easier by not moving and to make sure her arterial blood pressure did not get too high as she had a dissected aorta.) However, during her recovery, her kidneys were losing function; she was put on a strict schedule for hemodialysis (3 days a week, sometimes 4, to remove the excess fluid from her body because her liver was healing from the bypass, which could not pump out excess fluid.) During all of this, Anita also had a lung collapse due to a hole in her lung from the ventilator “peep” being accidently increased by a respiratory therapist (she was transferred to the Transplant CVICU for 2 days due to this lung collapsed and she had to be near an ECMO machine) and she successfully fought off a small lung infection as well; as she was treated with small doses of intravenous drip antibiotic. 2 weeks into her recovery, Anita started having medium/severe strokes on both hemispheres of her brain. An EEG was completed and her neurologist saw her carotid artery and renal artery were blocked severely. This set back began to take another toll on her and left her completely responseless. A few days after her strokes, she began having seizures that are considered small, however; with the multitudes of issues she was having, it did not help her recover at all. 3 weeks into recovery, her CV surgeons and her neurologist saw she had low brain activity and had pressure on her brain from the swelling. Her CV surgeons also noticed from her GI tract tests and ultrasounds, that she was not digesting her food through her feeding tube, which suggested she may have another blockage in the bypasses that were just placed inside of her. December 12, 2017, my dad, Steve Alan Harber and I, Hayley Harber, decided to allow another bypass surgery to try again to successfully bypass her intestines and liver. She successfully made it though the surgery. Directly after the 2nd bypass surgery, her CV surgeons noticed her blood gas levels had a pH level of 7. Anita’s entire body was completely acidic. Her chances of living after the surgery were very slim. My dad and I were given the choice to keep reviving her (as her heart rate kept decreasing rapidly and increasing) or to stop the ventilator once her heart rate dropped. My dad and I decided that we had done all we could and her fight was over, it was time for her to be with the Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ. December 13, 2017 at 7:19AM, Anita passed with my dad, Steve, holding her head and kissing her on the lips while she was in her hospital bed. I am asking that if you could possibly help my dad and I bring her home from Baptist Memorial Hospital Memphis - East to have her cremated and have a memorial, we would be forever grateful. My dad lives week by week, does small jobs for family and friends to keep income coming in, has no health insurance or life insurance. My dad has no money left as he has been with my mom in the hospital since it all began. He has depleted his bank account to cover his utilities, phone bill and credit card bills. I have not been to work since this occurred as well, so I can barely help with the large monetary circumstances. I am simply asking for your help during this difficult time for my family.

Thank you,
Harber family
Please pray for our strength as my mother was our world.

I love you Mommy! - Hayley Anna (your Angel face)