Funeral Expenses for Debbie Battles

From my dad Cliff Battles

On January 29th at 3:45 pm I lost my wife and best friend Debbie after her long struggle fighting leukemia. For those that don’t Debbie was diagnosed with ALL leukemia in April of 2018 and she started treatment then. After almost two years of chemotherapy she was in remission and we thought life was going to be normal again.

In August of 2021 Debbie started to feel drained and not herself and we both knew before even going to the doctor that the leukemia was back. We went to Stanford and found it was back. So the next step was a bone marrow transplant which would give Debbie a new immune system and save her.

Debbie’s brother Mike was a perfect match, a 10 out of 10 with the same blood type, so the stars seemed to align and we just thought everything would be okay. Debbie started the process by taking a newer therapy that put her back into remission as we set up the transplant and in November it was time to start.

As Mike underwent the harvesting process, Debbie began radiation and chemotherapy. Debbie was admitted to Stanford on November 6th and later received the new cells. She was tired from the process but optimistic that everything was going to be okay. Then Debbie runs into her first hurdle, a double subdural hematoma (bleeding in her head). Things were touch and go for a couple of days but she pushed through and as she was getting better she hit her next hurdle, kidney failure.

Debbie landed in the ICU and after four days of nonstop dialysis she was back on track but very week. These two roadblocks took their toll and left Debbie weekend. Debbie began working on getting her strength back by doing physical therapy daily and just trying to get the strength to walk.

By this time it was Christmas and we brought Christmas to Debbie in the hospital. She seemed to have a great day even tough she was getting dialysis and was exhausted. The next day she seemed more tired than usual and after some tests we found she had a major infection that would set her back yet again. After almost two weeks of fighting the infection her body was weakened even more but that didn’t stop her.

Debbie continued to fight even though she was now bedridden because she had lost so much muscle during this time. Back to physical therapy and she was making strides and getting stronger. Then for no reason her blood surges began to spike out of control and another setback.

She continued to fight and push herself to move and eat which was a difficult task most days.

As things finally seemed to be going in the right direction another problem arose, elevated liver enzyme’s and low blood counts. So as we awaited test results another hit came in the form of an infection. On Wednesday they found she had a blood infection and started drugs to treat it. Since Debbie had fought through numerous infections in the past and things see,Ed to be going well I really didn’t think much of it that night as I gave her a kiss and left for home.

On the way to the hospital I received a call from Stanford that Debbie had and issue coming from a CT scan but was stable and on oxygen. When I arrived to Debbie’s room and saw the dozen or so doctors and staff there I knew there was a problem.

I met with her docto and was told Debbie’s organs were starting to shut down. The scan showed mor damage to her kidneys and damage to her liver by was of graft vs host disease. They said they could taker her to the ICU but things looked bleak for a recovery. The doctor said she did not recommend going to ICU and just stay in the room for supportive care.

I asked everyone to leave the room and asked Debbie what she wanted to do because I was read to move to ICU to try. Debbie looked at me with her big blue eyes, shook her head from side to side and said she was tired.

At this point I asked the doctors how long she had and was told, hours. Family was called and our daughter, sons, friends, her sisters and brother Mike all rushed to get there.

Debbie was able to see people close to her that day and it meant a lot to her as she laid there. My daughter and I stayed with Debbie holding her hands and playing her favorite music. The few hours we were told she had turned into two days because Debbie was still a fighter and I think she knew ther was too much to be said.

So at 3:45 yesterday I heard and felt her last heat beat. She passed in peace and with dignity on her terms.

So if you new Debbie I don’t want you to feel sad for her I want you to feel proud of her for fighting this for so long for not her but her family because for Debbie it was never about her it was alway about her family.

As for us, we are heartbroken to say the least but proud to be her husband and children.

It’s funny but I didn’t realize 28 years ago I wold meet the strongest most courageous person I would ever know and later call her my wife. She always said I was her hero because of my job but in the end she was mine because of her courage and will to fight to be with her family.