How it began: Life flipped

Sometime around the third week of January 2019, my wife, Laurel, developed a severe, wracking cough. It would strike at any time and she would cough to the point of gagging before she could stop. It was painful to hear, painful to watch, and miserable for her. Yet she wouldn’t go to the doctor or to walk-in care, thinking that it was just a cold that would soon pass.

Finally, on January 27, she agreed to go to walk-in care. It was a quick visit, and we left with prednisone and Bactrim (sp?) for her to take for a week. By the end of the week, her cough was no better, and on February 3, we were back at walk-in care. This time around, I had been able to reach our primary care office ahead of time, and they had recommended we ask for an x-ray to check for pneumonia. We did that, and the preliminary result suggested pneumonia, so the PA put Laurel back on prednisone, did a different antibiotic, gave her a shot in the backside, and told her, “Right now you’ll feel like you’ve been kicked by a mule, but by tonight you’ll feel like Wonder Woman.” She was right about the first part, but not the second. She also told us to schedule a follow-up with our primary care physician for the end of the week.

Laurel felt well enough to cheer on her beloved New England Patriots as they defeated the LA Rams in Super Bowl LIII, but by Wednesday, February 6, she had developed a fever, and I called our primary care office to tell them she needed to be seen right away. Within moments of arriving there, Laurel was put on oxygen, and they had called for an ambulance to take her to the hospital. I chose EMMC because of my familiarity with it, knowing more people that work there than at the other hospital in town, and because it seems that many patients end of there after beginning treatment at the other one. I followed the ambulance to EMMC and joined Laurel in the ER. We spent several hours there together; she was put in a room in very short order, which turned out to be a blessing, because no rooms were available for her upstairs that night. While we were there, elder Jay R from our church went to our house and checked on the boys. Then he went to a couple of fast food places and bought their very specific food choices and took them lunch. He gave them his phone number so they could contact him if they needed anything else.

By a little after 4:00pm, Laurel and I hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast, so when the chance came for her to get some food, she shared it with me. Bolstered by it, we were able to think through what needed to be done for our family. She had already had a CT scan to check for possible blood clots in her lungs (there were none), and faced other tests. The decision to admit her had already been made, so we knew she would be at EMMC for the night, if not longer. However, the boys had been on their own much longer than we’d expected, so she agreed that I should go home. I prayed with her, and left.

The next morning, I went back to the hospital. By that time, she was in CCU, Room 568. I spoke with Laurel for a few minutes. She was very groggy. She told me that she was positive for Influenza A and pneumonia, and that the hospital wanted the boys tested for flu. I left her Kindle tablet for her to use if she felt up to it, prayed with her again, kissed her on the forehead, and left. That was the last time she was awake to talk with me. By the end of the day, Laurel was on life support and heavily sedated.

From this point onward, I’m going to use my Facebook posts to show the progression of Laurel’s saga. I’ll include other narrative as I want to, but I think that what the Lord has been doing and providing by his grace and mercy is amply shown in those posts. I want this story preserved for a testimony to my kids and to me, and yes, to Laurel, of the greatness of our God and of his amazing love for us, his children.

Bill MacDonald

February 13, 2019