On November 4, 2019, Carmen Goes lost the fight.
Returning from the cancer clinic on October 30th, she had a lung collapse from having fluid drained from it, prior to taking the flight. When she landed she could barely breathe and was rushed to the ER. I saw and sat with her for 4 hours. I rubbed her feet while she drifted asleep. Her hair was falling out from the keemo and we kept making jokes about how surprised everyone was going to be when they see that she's bald now. I wasn't informed of how dire the situation was until the next day. She couldn't stay coherent and I struggled with the truth that everything was too far gone now and that the words I spoke to her the day before were most likely the last words truly understood. I can't fill in many more details as I left. Everyone was hoping that she could stay with us longer, but after our immediate family had gathered, she started to have episodes and needed to be more heavily sedated. She lasted until roughly seven AM, monday morning on November 4, surrounded by those who loved her, and didn't wish to miss a single second, only to watch her take her last breath.
I'm thankful to all of you. I'm sorry this couldn't end happily.