Donation protected
Hello everyone, as you all may know, our mother Margaret (Peggy) went into the hospital last November because of stomach issues, so she was given a feeding tube and from there she was sent to a nursing home rehabilitation center where she was to rehabilitate and Learn her feeding tube and then come home right before her birthday. She missed thanksgiving, most of her grandbabies birthdays, Christmas, New Years and even her own birthday. She spent only a couple weeks at this rehabilitation center before things started going down hill. She was not being properly cared for in this place, she suffered horrible sores on her bottom from being left for hours without changing and soon after that we noticed her mental state was slipping, she was hallucinating and slurry when we talked to her, she was suffering from a bad UTI that lead her to become Sepsis, she then developed pneumonia, where they also suspected my moms feeding tube wasn’t being turned off when it should have been and so she was aspirating her food. We got call January 8th early morning that she was being sent to the ER because she was unconscious and from there that was when my mom was Intubated and put on the ventilator. After about two weeks She became ventilator dependent, so we then had to agree to have a tracheotomy put in her neck so she could continue her care with the ventilator at least until she was able to ween from the ventilator. My mom fought long and hard to get better . The ventilator saved her but it also leaves you more susceptible to getting pneumonia and with my mom having COPD this fight was a hard one to over come especially when you’re alone in a hospital during a pandemic and all you want is to see your family. She went months when she would get better then catch pneumonia again and there were times they had us believe it was the end but somehow she’d pull through. This past Mother’s Day was the last day I spoke with my mom, she was crying I knew she was suffering with depression and definitely some PTSD from all of what she went through. It was that following Tuesday that my sister and I had a wonderful meeting with her doctors telling us how my mom had been off the ventilator for 8 days, it was the happiest day for my sister and I in so many months with all the stresses and struggles and ups and downs, this time she was actually going to come home and we cheered her on so much we kept telling her how incredible she was and we were so proud and she was going to come home soon. It was that very next night that we received the worst phone call, my mother had ripped her trach out and was struggling to breathe, the nurses tried to get it back in but they couldn’t and so she went into cardiac arrest, they performed CPR to regain a pulse but because of the time laps in oxygen and a blood flow to her brain my mother suffered significant brain damage that would leave her without any true meaningful life left to live so with all the tests performed and the guidance from the doctors, and out weighing our options and what is truly best for our mother, My sister and I had to make the hardest decision of our lives and chose to no longer let her suffer because she’s been through way to much and she should be free and be at peace. As much as it hurts us and our family, to have to say goodbye, we know this is the right thing todo. My mom being only 59, we were not prepared or expecting this to happen right now. We have been able to gather some of what we need cover the expenses to give her a beautiful service but not all so even the smallest amount will help towards giving our mother a beautiful memorial service. She was never one to impose on others or burden anyone, she was always someone who would go without if it meant to give to someone else she loved. We appreciate and are extremely grateful for anything.
Organizer and beneficiary
Denise Oppold
Organizer
Drexel Hill, PA
Dawn Oppold
Beneficiary