Phyllis Morrison Medical & Memorial
Donation protected
*UPDATE on services for my mother, Phyllis Morrison:
Our mother's funeral/memorial will be held on this Saturday, January 21st, at 4pm. It will be located at the Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home in Council Bluffs, IA. It will be followed by a social hour including snacks of some variety at the funeral home.
WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT. We are extremely grateful for all of the kind words, and also to those of you who were able to donate to help my brother and I give our mother the nicest send off possible. We owe our friends, family, and community a great deal of gratitude, and your kindness and generosity will not be forgotten.
We hope to see many of you at Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral home at 4 pm on Saturday. If you are able, try and arrive just a tad early so that we may get on with the precession without too many hiccups.
For more information, please check the obituaries in The Daily Nonpareil or The Daily Nonpareil Online on Thursday or Friday, and feel free to share if you feel like you know anyone who may like to know about the service. ALL FRIENDS AND FRIENDS OF FRIENDS WELCOME.
We love you all. Thank you so much <3
-------------------
On January 4th, 2017, our mother, Phyllis Morrison was found by a neighbor to be disoriented and immobile. She was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she was put on a machine that would breath for her, as they found that her body was slowly being poisoned with CO2.
The next 10 days are a bit of a blur for us. Neal drove out immediately the following day from Chicago, as I called and checked in hourly. We were hopeful that she would make a recovery, and that Neal might be able to return back to work, as I would then come out from Los Angeles to take care of our mother for awhile. Sadly, things didn’t work out this way. On Monday, January 9th, they made the decision to take our mother off of a ventilator to see how she would do. Neal called me at work to tell me they wanted to know that if she didn’t begin breathing on her own, if we wanted to do a “do not resuscitate”.
Words cannot describe the feeling of helplessness that we both felt. Me, being so far away, and unable to see her, and him, there on his own. The nurses, until this point, had been updating us on all of the ways she was getting better. Numbers and figures, and tidbits that really didn’t tell us the big picture. I guess he and I were so hopeful that we didn’t realize how imminently dire the situation was….
The next day I was on a plane to join them both. When I finally arrived at the hospital, she had been put on something called a Bi-pap, as taking her off the ventilator proved to be unsuccessful. It was a sturdy plastic mask that was tightly strapped to her face, as it aggressively pushed air into her. It was worse than anyone could imagine. She was miserable. I spent my first night in the hospital trying to calm her and keep her from pulling this mask off. I could see how terrible this was. Especially for our beautiful mother.
The next morning, the respiratory therapist came in and decided to give her a break from the mask. When the mask came off, my mother was finally calm. She was even able to communicate a little bit. Im very grateful that both my brother and I, and some of her close friends were able to talk to her. We were able to ask mom if she wanted to be put back on the bi-pap, and eventually, after some thought, she said she did not.
I, honestly, for sentimental and personal reasons, cannot go into how the next couple of days went.
On January 14th at 12:10 am, our beautiful, kind, witty, inspiring, intelligent, talented, and loving mother passed away, peacefully with both my brother and I next to her.
__________
Now, my brother and I are faced with paying for the funeral on our own. The day before my mother passed, my brother was let go from his new job for leaving to be with her. I’ve also had to take time off from my new job, and I’m not quite sure when I will be heading back to Los Angeles, as there is still so much to do. We haven’t signed papers or paid for services yet, but are planning to do so Wednesday. We have decided to do cremation and hope to have a nice service for her next weekend. Just simple crematory services are going start at $1,000, and every added amenity goes drastically up from there. That is why we have started a gofundme, in hopes that our community might be able to help us a little during this trying time. Paying for services is just a very small part of what we are facing.
It would mean a great deal to us to have a nice memorial for us and for all who loved her to get a chance to say goodbye.
We are starting the gofundme at a meager $2,700.
We would be forever grateful for your help, and also would be willing to donate a peice of my mother's artwork (of your choice) to the highest donation. My mother would have been just as appreciative. Thanks for taking the time to read of our plight, and please keep our beautiful mother in your memories.
Our mother's funeral/memorial will be held on this Saturday, January 21st, at 4pm. It will be located at the Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home in Council Bluffs, IA. It will be followed by a social hour including snacks of some variety at the funeral home.
WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT. We are extremely grateful for all of the kind words, and also to those of you who were able to donate to help my brother and I give our mother the nicest send off possible. We owe our friends, family, and community a great deal of gratitude, and your kindness and generosity will not be forgotten.
We hope to see many of you at Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral home at 4 pm on Saturday. If you are able, try and arrive just a tad early so that we may get on with the precession without too many hiccups.
For more information, please check the obituaries in The Daily Nonpareil or The Daily Nonpareil Online on Thursday or Friday, and feel free to share if you feel like you know anyone who may like to know about the service. ALL FRIENDS AND FRIENDS OF FRIENDS WELCOME.
We love you all. Thank you so much <3
-------------------
On January 4th, 2017, our mother, Phyllis Morrison was found by a neighbor to be disoriented and immobile. She was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she was put on a machine that would breath for her, as they found that her body was slowly being poisoned with CO2.
The next 10 days are a bit of a blur for us. Neal drove out immediately the following day from Chicago, as I called and checked in hourly. We were hopeful that she would make a recovery, and that Neal might be able to return back to work, as I would then come out from Los Angeles to take care of our mother for awhile. Sadly, things didn’t work out this way. On Monday, January 9th, they made the decision to take our mother off of a ventilator to see how she would do. Neal called me at work to tell me they wanted to know that if she didn’t begin breathing on her own, if we wanted to do a “do not resuscitate”.
Words cannot describe the feeling of helplessness that we both felt. Me, being so far away, and unable to see her, and him, there on his own. The nurses, until this point, had been updating us on all of the ways she was getting better. Numbers and figures, and tidbits that really didn’t tell us the big picture. I guess he and I were so hopeful that we didn’t realize how imminently dire the situation was….
The next day I was on a plane to join them both. When I finally arrived at the hospital, she had been put on something called a Bi-pap, as taking her off the ventilator proved to be unsuccessful. It was a sturdy plastic mask that was tightly strapped to her face, as it aggressively pushed air into her. It was worse than anyone could imagine. She was miserable. I spent my first night in the hospital trying to calm her and keep her from pulling this mask off. I could see how terrible this was. Especially for our beautiful mother.
The next morning, the respiratory therapist came in and decided to give her a break from the mask. When the mask came off, my mother was finally calm. She was even able to communicate a little bit. Im very grateful that both my brother and I, and some of her close friends were able to talk to her. We were able to ask mom if she wanted to be put back on the bi-pap, and eventually, after some thought, she said she did not.
I, honestly, for sentimental and personal reasons, cannot go into how the next couple of days went.
On January 14th at 12:10 am, our beautiful, kind, witty, inspiring, intelligent, talented, and loving mother passed away, peacefully with both my brother and I next to her.
__________
Now, my brother and I are faced with paying for the funeral on our own. The day before my mother passed, my brother was let go from his new job for leaving to be with her. I’ve also had to take time off from my new job, and I’m not quite sure when I will be heading back to Los Angeles, as there is still so much to do. We haven’t signed papers or paid for services yet, but are planning to do so Wednesday. We have decided to do cremation and hope to have a nice service for her next weekend. Just simple crematory services are going start at $1,000, and every added amenity goes drastically up from there. That is why we have started a gofundme, in hopes that our community might be able to help us a little during this trying time. Paying for services is just a very small part of what we are facing.
It would mean a great deal to us to have a nice memorial for us and for all who loved her to get a chance to say goodbye.
We are starting the gofundme at a meager $2,700.
We would be forever grateful for your help, and also would be willing to donate a peice of my mother's artwork (of your choice) to the highest donation. My mother would have been just as appreciative. Thanks for taking the time to read of our plight, and please keep our beautiful mother in your memories.
Organizer
Jenna Morrison
Organizer
Council Bluffs, IA