Posterity

Here are a few pictures from the funeral. Madison was so sweet to take care of Grandpa, and Jace was the cutest pallbearer ever!

Hanging at the Hospital

A few pictures of our 30-hour vigil at Sacred Heart in Spokane, WA. The hospital was kind enough to let our family use this private room for two days. We managed to make the best of it!

Passing of a Wonderful Woman

December 12, 2008 at 1:28 pm, Bonnie Call Anderson, my sweet mother-in-law, passed away at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, WA. Words cannot express our sorrow and the emptiness we feel cannot be filled. We were blessed to be able to gather around her bedside as she left this life and joined her loved-ones on the other side. It has been a great pleasure and an extreme honor to know, love, and care for her. My memories of her are treasures which I hold dear to my heart. I love you!

Update

As most of you know, my sweet mother-in-law had undergone open-heart surgery today. The goal was mitral valve repair. There was a major complication that became apparent within the first 30 minutes of surgery. Her aortic artery had dissected (secondary to retrograde flow). The surgeon had to repair the dissection and then move on the the valve repair. I know Lori.... little words. I'll explain later. Just know it's bad. People usually die from dissections before the ever get to the O.R. Anyway, her 3 hour surgery wound up being over 6 hours. We are now maintaining an vigil at her bedside. (Everyone except me. I am at Mike and Koni's where my kids are sleeping. Jace has croup again, buy the way.) Tonight has been really rough. Talk about a emotional roller coaster. We were able to see her for a little bit just after they got her to her room in Cardiac ICU. Then I came home to put kids to bed. Since then she has coded (died and been resuscitated) twice. It has been real touch-and-go. We are not ready to give her up yet! However, things may be making a turn for the better. Joe just called me from the hospital to tell me that she was opening her eyes a little and she was squeezing his had a bit. If you are reading this.... say a little prayer for our family. We could never express how grateful we all for all your friendship and love! We love you!


UPDATE: Dec 12th. She had an angio this morning to try to figure out why her blood pressure is dropping so severely. It basically showed that nearly every major vessel coming off her heart has dissected. Meaning that no blood is getting to her bowel. All her blood flow is though false lumens. Basically we had two options, let her suffer or let her go. We chose the latter. We all gathered in her room and said our good-byes. Once the nurse shut the vent off, it was only a few peaceful minutes until she was gone. Madison sat by her side and held her hand for quite awhile afterwards. How will we face tomorrow!?