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Thursday, April 19, 2012
Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
Invitation to connect on LinkedIn
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Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Mom is above and protecting us all now
Mom's body looked so precious and angelic when our family one by one said our last good-bye's to her. I felt her warmth and spirit embracing me and her energy in the hospital room prior to leaving. Once again, many Doctors, Nurses, Patient Technicians, Hospitality Staff, and Housekeeping came by to give their condolence and heart felt feelings of love and gratefulness to have met our "Energizer Momma Ruthie." It was overwhelming and endearing to hear the kind words expressed about Mom and many tears that were being shed as each person spoke. This is a true example of how special Mom has been and still is to many.
Mom passed at the age of 75. Mom's final days and hours were spent surrounded by family and long time friends (30 plus years and more)that she had touched in so many ways throughout her memorable life. Mom surely lived her life to the fullest and her care and concern for others will be greatly missed.
Mom's life would seem too short to many, but those who were touched by her, understood that the quality of existence far exceeds the quantity of time in which one lives. Mom will always be remembered for her courage and hope, her zest for life, her playfulness, her love for adventure and yearning to seek new experiences, her charismatic personality, her infectious laugh with a snort and her strong sense of family. Mom will especially be remembered for her persistence to be heard, understood and to make change. It would be an honor to be able to walk in her shoes. I will miss my Mom deeply.
Funeral Services will be held on Friday, April 30th at 1pm at Brighton Memorial Chapel Inc. 3325 Winton Rd. So. and Jefferson Road. The funeral will be at White Haven Memorial Park. Following the funeral, a period of mourning will be observed at 59 Charissa Run, Henrietta. Friday & Saturday 4-6pm and Sunday 1-4 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Simon Wiesenthal Center (1399 S. Roxbury Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90035) or charity of one's choice in her memory. To leave a message of condolence, please visit: www.BrightonMemorialChapel.com
All our love from the Baskin Family xoxoxo
Mom passed at the age of 75. Mom's final days and hours were spent surrounded by family and long time friends (30 plus years and more)that she had touched in so many ways throughout her memorable life. Mom surely lived her life to the fullest and her care and concern for others will be greatly missed.
Mom's life would seem too short to many, but those who were touched by her, understood that the quality of existence far exceeds the quantity of time in which one lives. Mom will always be remembered for her courage and hope, her zest for life, her playfulness, her love for adventure and yearning to seek new experiences, her charismatic personality, her infectious laugh with a snort and her strong sense of family. Mom will especially be remembered for her persistence to be heard, understood and to make change. It would be an honor to be able to walk in her shoes. I will miss my Mom deeply.
Funeral Services will be held on Friday, April 30th at 1pm at Brighton Memorial Chapel Inc. 3325 Winton Rd. So. and Jefferson Road. The funeral will be at White Haven Memorial Park. Following the funeral, a period of mourning will be observed at 59 Charissa Run, Henrietta. Friday & Saturday 4-6pm and Sunday 1-4 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Simon Wiesenthal Center (1399 S. Roxbury Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90035) or charity of one's choice in her memory. To leave a message of condolence, please visit: www.BrightonMemorialChapel.com
All our love from the Baskin Family xoxoxo
Mom passed peacefully at 8:30am
Mom passed peacefully this morning at 8:30am. I and Kimmy were with her. I was holding Mom and she slipped away without a sign of discomfort or straining.
I will blog this evening. There is a lot to attend to at this time.
Thank you for all your never ending love, warmth, prayers and support,
Karen, Kimmy, Poppie, Mike, Cindy, Brian, Reece and the rest of our family xoxoxoxo
I will blog this evening. There is a lot to attend to at this time.
Thank you for all your never ending love, warmth, prayers and support,
Karen, Kimmy, Poppie, Mike, Cindy, Brian, Reece and the rest of our family xoxoxoxo
Non responsive, but fighting
We thought Mom was going to pass away last night. I left off that Mom was getting another increase of pain medication with anxiety medication. Her increases were every 45 minutes from 8pm till present. Mom was under great distress from yesterday at 4:30pm till about 4:00am this morning.
Around 9:15pm the Doctor's and Nurses said Mom may not make it through the night. I had called Poppie, who had left for home for some sleep around 7:00pm. He and his sisters returned to the hospital around 9:50pm and stayed with Mom, Brian, Kimmy and I till 1:00am. I had called Mike and Cindy at 9:17pm and were waiting by the phone for my call when Mom was definitely close to passing.
Brian, Kimmy and I bunked down with Mom in her hospital room and are still here. Since yesterday, there has been a non stop flow of medical staff coming in to check on Mom. Many of them were off duty and coming in to be with her and the family. Mom is SO LOVED by so many. This experience to witness how deeply Mom has touched so many people is simply overwhelming and beautiful. If I can only hope to be able to touch so many and shower them with unconditional love.
Mom at this point, is resting and breathing without too much struggle. She is being kept comfortable and we believe she is not in distress or pain. Mom will continue to be receiving increases of Dilaudid (pain medication) on a continuous drip, intermittent pushes of more Dilaudid, when needed and Klonopin (anxiety medication) every hour or as needed. Mom at this point has received enough Dilaudid that an elephant would be resting well. She is fighter for sure. We all hope she will be able to rest at peace today and for ever on.
To add to the unusual, it began raining early this morning and now is snowing. Mom must be controlling our weather. She loves snow and may be dreaming she is getting ready to go ice skating, sledding, or simply romping in the snow as we did when I was a younger. The power that our "Little Energizer Momma Ruthie" has is simply magical.
More to follow.
All our love,
Karen
Around 9:15pm the Doctor's and Nurses said Mom may not make it through the night. I had called Poppie, who had left for home for some sleep around 7:00pm. He and his sisters returned to the hospital around 9:50pm and stayed with Mom, Brian, Kimmy and I till 1:00am. I had called Mike and Cindy at 9:17pm and were waiting by the phone for my call when Mom was definitely close to passing.
Brian, Kimmy and I bunked down with Mom in her hospital room and are still here. Since yesterday, there has been a non stop flow of medical staff coming in to check on Mom. Many of them were off duty and coming in to be with her and the family. Mom is SO LOVED by so many. This experience to witness how deeply Mom has touched so many people is simply overwhelming and beautiful. If I can only hope to be able to touch so many and shower them with unconditional love.
Mom at this point, is resting and breathing without too much struggle. She is being kept comfortable and we believe she is not in distress or pain. Mom will continue to be receiving increases of Dilaudid (pain medication) on a continuous drip, intermittent pushes of more Dilaudid, when needed and Klonopin (anxiety medication) every hour or as needed. Mom at this point has received enough Dilaudid that an elephant would be resting well. She is fighter for sure. We all hope she will be able to rest at peace today and for ever on.
To add to the unusual, it began raining early this morning and now is snowing. Mom must be controlling our weather. She loves snow and may be dreaming she is getting ready to go ice skating, sledding, or simply romping in the snow as we did when I was a younger. The power that our "Little Energizer Momma Ruthie" has is simply magical.
More to follow.
All our love,
Karen
Monday, April 26, 2010
Mom's Being Brave, but she is suffering now
Early this morning Mom was experiencing an increase of pain. The Doctors increased her pain medication. The family was taking turns lightly rubbing her areas of pain with ice that seems to help decrease her symptoms or simply distract her.
Sadly, Mom had several more episodes of severe pain. The Doctors have increased her pain medication several times today, 11:30am, 4:30pm., 5:40pm and soon at 8pm. Mom at this point is able to hear and that is all. She is non ambulatory and and responsive with speaking, squeezing her fingers, raising her eyebrows or showing any physical movement to indicate communicating. Mom is moving through the stages pretty quickly at this point. The Doctors and Nurses are watching her body language and breathing closely to determine her comfort and pain levels.
Since this early this morning to present, The family has been taking turns massaging Mom, using ice to massage her and we all hope to help her stay as calm as possible.
More to come later.
Karen
Sadly, Mom had several more episodes of severe pain. The Doctors have increased her pain medication several times today, 11:30am, 4:30pm., 5:40pm and soon at 8pm. Mom at this point is able to hear and that is all. She is non ambulatory and and responsive with speaking, squeezing her fingers, raising her eyebrows or showing any physical movement to indicate communicating. Mom is moving through the stages pretty quickly at this point. The Doctors and Nurses are watching her body language and breathing closely to determine her comfort and pain levels.
Since this early this morning to present, The family has been taking turns massaging Mom, using ice to massage her and we all hope to help her stay as calm as possible.
More to come later.
Karen
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Mom is connecting at a new level
Today is day 15 since Mom was admitted on April 11 with a 911 call. Poppie arrived his usual time to see Mom at 8 am. We designated the mornings so Mom and Poppie could have private time for 3-4 hours. Mostly they have a light bite of breakfast together, visit for a bit and then fall asleep together for several hours. The rest of the family slowly trickles in after 11:30am.
This morning was a slightly new routine. Mom is slipping away slowly. Poppie arrived finding Mom gently and quietly being fed small nibbles of oatmeal. Mom's eyes remained closed the entire time. Since yesterday afternoon, Mom had barely opened her eyes when spoken with. Poppie listened quietly to Mom's Nurse, Heather, so gently and softly speaking with Mom. Mom could answer questions in a quiet, low and straining voice. Mom did not open her eyes at all to speak.
This afternoon, Poppie's sisters were on a roll telling family stories. The theme was basaed around embarassing momments. We were all in stitches listening to Aunt Carol and then Aunt Maxine. They both have an incredible delivery and such a theatrical way with their story telling. Mom, although never opened her eyes, she periodically would chuckle, smile or smirk. We all enjoyed. My childhood friend, Lisa and her boyfriend Chris stopped in and Chris shared lots of his childhood stories and laughter. Mom always perks up when Lisa is around. It is wonderful to have decades of history bouncing around the room for all to enjoy.
Again, Poppie, Aunt Carol, Aunt Maxine, Mike, Cindy, and Brian left between 6-9:00pm. Kimmy and I like to stay with Mom into the night until 11:30pm - 1 am. Mom had a surprise visitor tonight. One of her first Doctors back in November, Dr. Brandon Stead, came by with his wife, Cherry and son, Kiel for a quick visit. Mom and Poppie have adopted them into our family. Since November, we have had them over monthly for dinners and we all have come to love each others company. Though the visit was a short one, Mom so enjoyed seeing them in between her quick naps.
Tonight is the third night Mom has gone into a deep sleep mumbling, talking and exhibiting lots of facials. It was interesting last night around 10pm, Mom mumbled that "You need to help Daddy fix the computer". She kept repeating this to Kimmy and I several times in her deep dream state. We did not think much of this. Around 12:30am, Kimmy and I arrived home. Poppie was waiting up for me and asked if I would please fix the computer. He said around 10pm he had hit a wrong key again on the computer and the emails got "messed up". He could not resolve the problem and wanted to call Mom , as she usually corrects the issues. Unfortunately, he had to wait until I got home to correct the problem. I shared the story about Mom saying he had problems tonight around the same time and we simply stared at each other with our eyes wide open and speechless. Has Mom entered a new dimension? Is Mom now taping into a different part of her brain that we are not able to? "Things that make you go hmmmmmm."
Mom was emotionally deflated today. She simply has had enough and does not want to continue suffering. She has asked her Dr.'s and Nurses several times today if they would please give her a pill to stop her suffering. She no longer is able to transfer herself without assistance, she is using a camode by her bed (discussion of a catheter was presented today), she is on additional medication to slow down some discomforting symptoms and she is extremely exhausted. She no longer is able to keep her eyes open for more than a minute or so. She is unable to feed herself, though she is still able to swallow. She has absolutely NO appetite and is refusing to eat more than a few spoonfuls several times of day.
Mom and I spoke this morning on how this is NOT a way to die. She wants me and the medical staff to write letters to change the laws! She wants people to be able to take a "Pill" and end their own misery. It is so painful to watch such a slow death. Especially, to someone that is so mentally present and feels so trapped in a body that is so far advanced with a disease and simply continues to be failing her.
This is NOT A WAY TO DIE!
Karen
This morning was a slightly new routine. Mom is slipping away slowly. Poppie arrived finding Mom gently and quietly being fed small nibbles of oatmeal. Mom's eyes remained closed the entire time. Since yesterday afternoon, Mom had barely opened her eyes when spoken with. Poppie listened quietly to Mom's Nurse, Heather, so gently and softly speaking with Mom. Mom could answer questions in a quiet, low and straining voice. Mom did not open her eyes at all to speak.
This afternoon, Poppie's sisters were on a roll telling family stories. The theme was basaed around embarassing momments. We were all in stitches listening to Aunt Carol and then Aunt Maxine. They both have an incredible delivery and such a theatrical way with their story telling. Mom, although never opened her eyes, she periodically would chuckle, smile or smirk. We all enjoyed. My childhood friend, Lisa and her boyfriend Chris stopped in and Chris shared lots of his childhood stories and laughter. Mom always perks up when Lisa is around. It is wonderful to have decades of history bouncing around the room for all to enjoy.
Again, Poppie, Aunt Carol, Aunt Maxine, Mike, Cindy, and Brian left between 6-9:00pm. Kimmy and I like to stay with Mom into the night until 11:30pm - 1 am. Mom had a surprise visitor tonight. One of her first Doctors back in November, Dr. Brandon Stead, came by with his wife, Cherry and son, Kiel for a quick visit. Mom and Poppie have adopted them into our family. Since November, we have had them over monthly for dinners and we all have come to love each others company. Though the visit was a short one, Mom so enjoyed seeing them in between her quick naps.
Tonight is the third night Mom has gone into a deep sleep mumbling, talking and exhibiting lots of facials. It was interesting last night around 10pm, Mom mumbled that "You need to help Daddy fix the computer". She kept repeating this to Kimmy and I several times in her deep dream state. We did not think much of this. Around 12:30am, Kimmy and I arrived home. Poppie was waiting up for me and asked if I would please fix the computer. He said around 10pm he had hit a wrong key again on the computer and the emails got "messed up". He could not resolve the problem and wanted to call Mom , as she usually corrects the issues. Unfortunately, he had to wait until I got home to correct the problem. I shared the story about Mom saying he had problems tonight around the same time and we simply stared at each other with our eyes wide open and speechless. Has Mom entered a new dimension? Is Mom now taping into a different part of her brain that we are not able to? "Things that make you go hmmmmmm."
Mom was emotionally deflated today. She simply has had enough and does not want to continue suffering. She has asked her Dr.'s and Nurses several times today if they would please give her a pill to stop her suffering. She no longer is able to transfer herself without assistance, she is using a camode by her bed (discussion of a catheter was presented today), she is on additional medication to slow down some discomforting symptoms and she is extremely exhausted. She no longer is able to keep her eyes open for more than a minute or so. She is unable to feed herself, though she is still able to swallow. She has absolutely NO appetite and is refusing to eat more than a few spoonfuls several times of day.
Mom and I spoke this morning on how this is NOT a way to die. She wants me and the medical staff to write letters to change the laws! She wants people to be able to take a "Pill" and end their own misery. It is so painful to watch such a slow death. Especially, to someone that is so mentally present and feels so trapped in a body that is so far advanced with a disease and simply continues to be failing her.
This is NOT A WAY TO DIE!
Karen
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