Help for Jeff's Funeral
Donation protected
Jeffrey Joseph Harbuck passed away into the arms of his heavenly father at 7:07 p.m. (CT) on May 15, 2018. Because Jeff wasn't married with any family and wasn't working for the last two years due to his strokes, we would appreciate any donations to help defray the funeral costs in lieu of cards and/or flowers.
On March 4, 2016, our son and brother, Jeff Harbuck, attended a religious conference in Brooksville, Florida, that he had been looking forward to for some time. Others at the conference who’d always known Jeff to be very engaging, friendly, and talkative, noticed he was not his normal, outgoing self. He was usually one to sit toward the front of the room and actively participate in discussions, but this weekend, Jeff was seen sitting in the back of the room appearing to fall asleep. His odd absence was also noted at meal times, as well.
At the end of the conference, Jeff miraculously managed to make the 6 hour drive home to Daphne, Alabama, where he resides with and helps take care of his elderly mother, Lizanne Harbuck. Upon Jeff’s return, he entered the house, told Lizanne that he was completely exhausted, and went to bed where he ended up sleeping for nearly 24 hours.
On Tuesday, when Jeff finally emerged from his room, Lizanne noticed he seemed dazed and confused and said he was dizzy with ringing in his ears. He had difficulty speaking clearly and bumped into the wall several times. Concerned for her son’s health, she drove him to the emergency room in Mobile. The doctors were baffled by his symptoms and unsure what to do. He was admitted and treated with antibiotics.
By Thursday, Jeff was continuing to slur his speech and make no sense. He seemed disoriented and angry and began fighting the medical staff, pulling out his leads, and trying to get out of his hospital bed. For his own safety and to aid in his healing, his hands were mitted and he was put in a four-point restraint. His vital signs were off the chart—not in good directions—and there was concern for his heart and his kidneys. His blood pressure had skyrocketed to 300 over 212 at one point.
To make matters worse, Jeff’s kidneys began to fail him. He was swollen and bloated from excessive fluids and for all of these reasons, the medical staff felt it was to his advantage to intubate and sedate him to give his body a chance to heal while they decided what was going on. Everything was going downhill and Jeff showed no signs of improvement.
Believing he might not make it through the next 24 hours, Jeff’s uncle, who is a retired physician, and his younger sister made a 10 hour drive from their homes in Savannah to Mobile perhaps see Jeff for the last time. Once they arrived, they saw a brother and nephew they did not recognize. His condition was termed “critical” and “dire” by the medical staff and it was unclear if he could come through this.
Through what can only be described as a casebook example of the awesome power of prayer—especially the many prayers from around the country and around the world flooding in—Jeff not only survived through the night, but his condition had greatly improved the following morning. They started dialysis on his kidneys and it appeared to be greatly helping. It was as if the rain clouds had stopped, separated, and a rainbow of hope was shining through. A state away, Jeff’s older sister encountered a rainbow in a rain-free sky as she arrived at work and we all took it as a sign.
Days passed, blood and toxicology tests were performed to rule out anything and everything. Finally, the doctor told Lizanne that Jeff had contracted pneumonia while in the hospital. While he expected him to make a full recovery from the pneumonia—albeit a long one—they still were unsure as to what brought Jeff into the hospital.
CT scans were performed and compared to the ones taken when he first arrived in the ER. As the days passed, more dialysis was administered, and Jeff remained in a sedated, intubated, and restrained state. At times when the sedation was changed, his eyes would flutter open, but there seemed to be no recognition of people or his surroundings. After several more days of sedation, dialysis, and aggressive antibiotics, it became apparent there were other, deeper underlying issues.
Finally, another CT scan revealed that Jeff has suffered from a stroke. More tests are needed to determine the severity and extent of any possible brain damage. As of Thursday, March 24, he is now breathing on his own without the tube, but is still unable to speak or make clear sense of his surroundings. He has been able to respond to verbal cues by blinking his eyes and we have faith that he will be able to rebound from this—although it will be a long rehabilitation process. We are that any brain damage will be minimal, but it is too early to know for sure.
This ordeal has been extremely taxing and stressful to Jeff’s family, but especially to his mother, Lizanne. Since losing her husband in 2014, Lizanne has relied on Jeff as her in-home caregiver and has depended on him for financial assistance. With Jeff hospitalized indefinitely and facing an extended recovery, 100% of the financial burden is now on Lizanne who is on a fixed income living off a monthly social security check.
That’s why we, Jeff’s family, have started this crowd sourcing campaign… to help raise funds to make up for the loss of Jeff’s income, to ease some of the financial burden for Jeff’s mother.
Lizanne has shown amazing resilience and strength throughout this ordeal, but at 82 years of age and only employed part-time as a church organist, she is not prepared to suddenly absorb this immediate, unplanned, and possibly ongoing financial shortfall.
We are praying for a full, speedy recovery for Jeff, but we are also being cautiously optimistic. With the power of everyone’s continued prayers, we are hoping for a miracle.
In the meantime, Lizanne sure could use your help. She’s under an enormous amount of stress with Jeff’s hospitalization and is now facing a very uncertain future in terms of his lengthy recovery and not knowing if he will ever be able to return to work.
If you know Jeff, then you know how important Lizanne is in his life and how much he loves her. We’ve made it a top priority every day he has been in the hospital to let him know that she is fine and is being taken care of… that he has to focus on himself, on getting better. But, she needs outside financial assistance at this time.
Please contribute in any way you can. Jeff would certainly appreciate it and be eternally grateful. Please share this message with others and help us keep the vigil for Jeff’s recovery going strong. We will be sure to keep you all posted with regular updates on Jeff’s condition as we have them.
Thank you for for contributing, and please keep Jeff and his family—especially Lizanne—in your prayers.
MAY GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
On March 4, 2016, our son and brother, Jeff Harbuck, attended a religious conference in Brooksville, Florida, that he had been looking forward to for some time. Others at the conference who’d always known Jeff to be very engaging, friendly, and talkative, noticed he was not his normal, outgoing self. He was usually one to sit toward the front of the room and actively participate in discussions, but this weekend, Jeff was seen sitting in the back of the room appearing to fall asleep. His odd absence was also noted at meal times, as well.
At the end of the conference, Jeff miraculously managed to make the 6 hour drive home to Daphne, Alabama, where he resides with and helps take care of his elderly mother, Lizanne Harbuck. Upon Jeff’s return, he entered the house, told Lizanne that he was completely exhausted, and went to bed where he ended up sleeping for nearly 24 hours.
On Tuesday, when Jeff finally emerged from his room, Lizanne noticed he seemed dazed and confused and said he was dizzy with ringing in his ears. He had difficulty speaking clearly and bumped into the wall several times. Concerned for her son’s health, she drove him to the emergency room in Mobile. The doctors were baffled by his symptoms and unsure what to do. He was admitted and treated with antibiotics.
By Thursday, Jeff was continuing to slur his speech and make no sense. He seemed disoriented and angry and began fighting the medical staff, pulling out his leads, and trying to get out of his hospital bed. For his own safety and to aid in his healing, his hands were mitted and he was put in a four-point restraint. His vital signs were off the chart—not in good directions—and there was concern for his heart and his kidneys. His blood pressure had skyrocketed to 300 over 212 at one point.
To make matters worse, Jeff’s kidneys began to fail him. He was swollen and bloated from excessive fluids and for all of these reasons, the medical staff felt it was to his advantage to intubate and sedate him to give his body a chance to heal while they decided what was going on. Everything was going downhill and Jeff showed no signs of improvement.
Believing he might not make it through the next 24 hours, Jeff’s uncle, who is a retired physician, and his younger sister made a 10 hour drive from their homes in Savannah to Mobile perhaps see Jeff for the last time. Once they arrived, they saw a brother and nephew they did not recognize. His condition was termed “critical” and “dire” by the medical staff and it was unclear if he could come through this.
Through what can only be described as a casebook example of the awesome power of prayer—especially the many prayers from around the country and around the world flooding in—Jeff not only survived through the night, but his condition had greatly improved the following morning. They started dialysis on his kidneys and it appeared to be greatly helping. It was as if the rain clouds had stopped, separated, and a rainbow of hope was shining through. A state away, Jeff’s older sister encountered a rainbow in a rain-free sky as she arrived at work and we all took it as a sign.
Days passed, blood and toxicology tests were performed to rule out anything and everything. Finally, the doctor told Lizanne that Jeff had contracted pneumonia while in the hospital. While he expected him to make a full recovery from the pneumonia—albeit a long one—they still were unsure as to what brought Jeff into the hospital.
CT scans were performed and compared to the ones taken when he first arrived in the ER. As the days passed, more dialysis was administered, and Jeff remained in a sedated, intubated, and restrained state. At times when the sedation was changed, his eyes would flutter open, but there seemed to be no recognition of people or his surroundings. After several more days of sedation, dialysis, and aggressive antibiotics, it became apparent there were other, deeper underlying issues.
Finally, another CT scan revealed that Jeff has suffered from a stroke. More tests are needed to determine the severity and extent of any possible brain damage. As of Thursday, March 24, he is now breathing on his own without the tube, but is still unable to speak or make clear sense of his surroundings. He has been able to respond to verbal cues by blinking his eyes and we have faith that he will be able to rebound from this—although it will be a long rehabilitation process. We are that any brain damage will be minimal, but it is too early to know for sure.
This ordeal has been extremely taxing and stressful to Jeff’s family, but especially to his mother, Lizanne. Since losing her husband in 2014, Lizanne has relied on Jeff as her in-home caregiver and has depended on him for financial assistance. With Jeff hospitalized indefinitely and facing an extended recovery, 100% of the financial burden is now on Lizanne who is on a fixed income living off a monthly social security check.
That’s why we, Jeff’s family, have started this crowd sourcing campaign… to help raise funds to make up for the loss of Jeff’s income, to ease some of the financial burden for Jeff’s mother.
Lizanne has shown amazing resilience and strength throughout this ordeal, but at 82 years of age and only employed part-time as a church organist, she is not prepared to suddenly absorb this immediate, unplanned, and possibly ongoing financial shortfall.
We are praying for a full, speedy recovery for Jeff, but we are also being cautiously optimistic. With the power of everyone’s continued prayers, we are hoping for a miracle.
In the meantime, Lizanne sure could use your help. She’s under an enormous amount of stress with Jeff’s hospitalization and is now facing a very uncertain future in terms of his lengthy recovery and not knowing if he will ever be able to return to work.
If you know Jeff, then you know how important Lizanne is in his life and how much he loves her. We’ve made it a top priority every day he has been in the hospital to let him know that she is fine and is being taken care of… that he has to focus on himself, on getting better. But, she needs outside financial assistance at this time.
Please contribute in any way you can. Jeff would certainly appreciate it and be eternally grateful. Please share this message with others and help us keep the vigil for Jeff’s recovery going strong. We will be sure to keep you all posted with regular updates on Jeff’s condition as we have them.
Thank you for for contributing, and please keep Jeff and his family—especially Lizanne—in your prayers.
MAY GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
Organizer and beneficiary
Marley Harbuck Gibson
Organizer
Elizabeth Harbuck
Beneficiary