Gary passed

Hello everyone,

It is with a very sad heart that I tell you Gary passed away on Oct. 19th. We had only been in Naples, FL 9 days when he went to the ER with shortness of breathe. He was admitted after an xray discovered his rt. lung was full of fluid. After a week of waiting for a bed in a different hospital, he had the lung drained and, of course, it was malignant. Our oncologist recommended pain management and hospice, and said Gary had “weeks” left. That was on Thursday, Oct. 8th, our wedding anniversary. After much discussion, we decided on inpatient care for the time being (still thinking he would have time left to come home). Let me say…hospice was extraordinary!!! It was a beautiful place, no visible hospital equipment, and the enire staff was there immediately and solely for Gary’s needs (and the family). I just can’t explain how meaningful everything that happened there was for us. There were 18 family members and 2 very dear friends with Gary, so over the course of 2 days we all had time to talk with Gary, hold his hand, pray with him, or just sit quietly. We each took individual time with him when we wanted, conversed in small groups, or had large laughter filled discussions or prayer sessions around his bed. He was medicated and mostly nonresponsive, but would rouse on occasion – mostly when he had the typical agitation. He died that Tuesday morning. I will write more later but wanted this “family” to know how much support we feel from you.
Warmly, Elaine