Her life was over way too soon....

One of my daughter's friends died last night. Julie was 34 years old and had a six year old daughter. She had not seen her daughter in a couple of weeks because she had been so sick and didn't want her daughter to see her in the condition she was in. Julie had medical problems that at the age of 19, she needed a mechanical valve to make her heart work properly. Because of this, she had been on blood thinners for approximately 15 years. She has had some health problems along the way, but she always recovered, although sometimes it was a slow recovery. Recently, she became ill, and it was really tough on her. Her kidneys were failing her, and then she developed a staph infection that got into her blood, which for her was very serious. She almost didn't recover from the staph infection, but then finally made a comeback and was almost ready to go home this past Sunday and be reunited with her daughter. She woke up during the early morning hours Sunday to go to the bathroom. When she came out, she mentioned to her cousin who was staying with her that she felt like she was having a stroke. Julie had worked in the ER and on an ambulance for years and knew the signs and symptoms of a stroke. Almost as quickly as she announced she felt like she was having a stroke, she did. She was immediately taken in for a CT scan and it was discovered she had a blood clot that had moved to her brain and ruptured a vessel, which caused a severe bleed. She was rushed to surgery, but the damage was done. They removed the clot, but the bleed continued to get worse. Her brain was swelling and whatever doctors normally do when the brain swells was not working on her. Julie once told my daughter that if she ever got really sick, she would most likely not survive it. This time she was really sick, and she did not survive it. For people who are on blood thinners, coming off of them for any length of time can be fatal.

Julie knew there was a good chance that someday someone might have to make a decision about whether or not to take her off of life support, and because of that, she had given a doctor friend her medical power of attorney. She didn't want to live as a vegetable, and if she couldn't live her life at least as it was before she was sick, then she wanted to be let go. At approximately 10:00 P.M. last night, she took her last breath on her on. I am sad for my daughter in that she has lost a friend, but I really sad for a little girl who will grow up without her mother.