On Sunday, March 15, 1998, at just before 6pm I had stopped at the entrance of the
church to let Mary Charlotte off to enter the church building. She
gave me such a queer answer to a question I asked of her, that I
mentioned it to our doctor, who was there. He asked her several more
questions, and then told me to take her to the hospital immediately,
that she was having a stroke! At the emergency ward of Cape Coral
Hospital she was asked some more questions about the date, what was
the President’s name, etc., which she couldn’t answer, so
we were told to wait in the receiving room (filled with people
waiting for emergency treatment). Over an hour later, we finally got
attention, and Mary Charlotte soon disappeared into the labyrinths of
the hospital. It was after 9pm when I finally got word that she had
X-rays, a CAT scan, and examination by a neurologist, but nearly
midnight before I saw her in the intensive care section, full of
tubes and wires. One of our elders, who was a male nurse at the
hospital, said he had seen the CAT scan, which had revealed a massive
blood spill in the cognitive-voice center on the left side of the
brain.
For the next nine days I came to the hospital three
times a day. She was released from intensive care after four days,
but was held until they could put a tube into her stomach (called a
peg), as she didn’t pass the swallow test. I could talk to her,
and she seemed to understand what I said, but I could get no sense
out of her replies, beyond “Yes” or “No”, and
this limitation did not change for thoughts original with her.
Meanwhile, I was undergoing extensive tests myself, including
ultrasound and Catscan, to see if I had a serious abdominal problem
to explain my generation of copious amounts of gas. The tests were
all negative, but I still have the gas problem.
When
it became evident that Mary Charlotte would be released soon, I
arranged for her admission to the Care Center at the Gulf Coast
Village, where she stayed from March 24 to May 18. She had speech and
physical therapy for that period, but when she no longer improved
from physical therapy (she had made good progress toward walking with
a walker unassisted), Medicare-A would no longer pay for her care
center expenses. I received permission to bring her up to our
apartment, and I took care of her, with considerable help from Boo
Mullinax (see left), our pastor’s wife (who continued to
assist in her care until her death). She continued her speech therapy
until March of 1999, but never recovered the ability to express
herself. She could not tell us what her problem was if she had one.
We had to guess and ask until we guessed correctly.
We had already bought non-refundable tickets to fly to Detroit in August for our
annual two weeks with Mary Jo in her Michigan summer home, and
made plans to do so, as Mary Charlotte continued to be able to do
more and more for herself, although needing some help with all
functions. Then, at 9pm on July 7th, as I was getting her out of bed
to go to the john, her left leg collapsed and she went sprawling. I
could not catch her. As she indicated pain in her legs, I pulled the
emergency cord for a nurse from the Care Center, and also called
there on the phone. When the nurse examined her she suspected a break
in her right leg, and called 911. Again I was at Cape Coral Hospital
until after midnight. X-rays confirmed the break and the orthopedic
surgeon forbade any physical therapy until the break was fully healed
because of its location just below her right kneecap. He feared any
stress there would crush her leg bone (tibia) making recovery
difficult if not impossible. No physical therapy, no Medicare-A. Once
again in the Care Center, now at my expense (I had insurance which
provided $36 a day and a 15% discount as a GCV resident) of nearly
$100 a day net. The trip to Michigan was canceled and the tickets
were put on hold. We were able to use them the following year, with
additional payment of $81 a person.
Right
in the middle of all this was Mark’s wedding to Cristina Rizen
on July 25th in Evansville IN. It was impossible for Mary Charlotte
to go, but I could represent both of us, as Mary Jo offered to stay
with Mary Charlotte for the three days I would be gone. The wedding
was held in one of the Holiday Inn’s dining areas, as was the
reception, and was very well attended. I was told that some 25 or so
of Mark’s friends of both sexes came from distant places to
help him celebrate this momentous event, showing his popularity with
those of his own age. I was, of course, introduced to many of
Cristina’s family, and enjoyed their warm hospitality, It was
an auspicious occasion!
Since there appeared no foreseeable
return to residency for Mary Charlotte, I was allowed to drop her
from the monthly fee, saving $520 a month. I gave up our 2-bedroom
apartment on August 8th for a 1-bedroom, saving a further $400 a
month. Speech therapy started again the first of August, and it was
apparent that Mary Charlotte had lost all of the gains of the
previous months — she obviously had had another stroke.
Physical therapy recommenced on September 21, her birthday, when the
surgeon pronounced her break completely healed — 11 weeks after
it occurred. But here also she had lost all of her previous ability
to walk and had to start over to learn. My new apartment was much
closer to the Care Center, and I could reach her room in just two
minutes. My daily regimen was to go down to her room as she was being
dressed for the day (7am or so), stay with her until her breakfast
came (sometime before 8 o’clock), come again late in the
morning until her lunch was served, and stay with her most of the
afternoon until her dinner time, when I would go to my own dinner in
the dining room. I would return and be with her until she was put to
bed — any time between 7 and 8:30 as the aides got around to
her room. Boo Mullinax had moved her dresser from the apartment to
her room, and had hung pictures and wall paper around her half of the
hospital style Care Center room, to make it as homey as possible. She
and other ladies from the church came from time to time to spell me
in the afternoons. Mary Jo was a great help and so was Margaret. They
would come once or twice a week and help me with Mary Charlotte,
particularly in the afternoons. Of course, from June to October, Mary
Jo was in Michigan, and Margaret was away much of that time as well.
Mary Charlotte continued to improve, both in
speech and physical therapy, until Friday morning, November 7th. When
being dressed, she complained a little of discomfort, as well as at
breakfast. But when physical therapy began, the therapist, Paul, knew
something was wrong, and urged the nurse in charge to have her right
leg X-rayed. A portable X-ray service soon came and took the pictures
and in the early afternoon confirmed a break in the right thigh bone.
Once again 911 was called and this time she was taken to the
Southwest General Medical Center, as the surgeon who had previously
treated her leg was unavailable. I waited four hours before I could
find out where she was located, and then no word about the
seriousness of the break until the following day, when it was
apparent that a plate would be needed, with surgery to implant it.
Due to a mild virus condition, the surgery was postponed until
Monday. I visited her as much as I could over the week-end and spent
most of the day there on Monday. She didn’t get back to her
room until nearly supper time, but everything had gone well. She came
back to the Care Center on Wednesday, this time under Medicare-A
again, because of the surgery. Remarkably, the experience seemed to
clear her mind some, because she was suddenly able to speak in
complete sentences, if the vocabulary was established by someone
else. She could use words she overheard, sometimes correctly,
sometimes not, but often repeated what someone in her hearing range
had said, usually not to her.
Although somewhat traumatic, the
improvement in speech and the coverage of Medicare-A, which lasted
the full 100 days allowed, were truly sent from God, although how she
broke her leg is still a mystery. The only way I can figure it is
that she put her leg between the uprights on the bedside guard
section, and somehow twisted it in trying to get it out. Because of
the plate, I suppose, physical therapy that did not involve the right
leg, was allowed, and she was soon hopping around all over the place.
Again steady improvement was apparent, without the setback that was
incurred at the first break, showing that this break was not
occasioned by another stroke. Life went on much as it had before.
Mary Charlotte didn’t react well to the singing and other
programs provided for the Care Center residents, as her limited
volition capacity made her attention span very short. She did not
like TV, radio, tapes, and only for a short time being read to. The
major way of passing the time with her was to push her around the
grounds or buildings in her wheel chair. Some of the church ladies
got her to sing old hymns with them from time to time, but I didn’t
have that response.
On September 10th I was requested to attend a
meeting of the “committee” that passed on independent
resident qualifications, and presented with an ultimatum to get Mary
Charlotte out of my apartment in 30 days. This was all legal, and as
above stated, they had “bent” the State regulations in
letting me have her there to begin with. They obviously expected me
to put her back in the Care Center, but I told them I couldn’t
do this, as the Care Center couldn’t give her the care she
needed, and that I would move out. A real-estate lady in our church,
Gloria Tate (who was also a city councilwoman) found me a rental on
Saturday, the 19th, but I didn’t like it. Then at church Sunday
morning she said she had found a first-floor condo for sale, and
would I like to see it after church. One look at this place was all I
needed — first floor, on a canal (not of interest to me, but of
value to the property), completely (and I mean completely) furnished,
and available for $64,990. I expressed my interest and went home.
Consulting Mary Jo by phone, she advised making a deposit, even
though I might find something more to my liking. So I called the lady
and met with her in mid-afternoon (along with Mary Charlotte —
I had to make sure she could get around the place in her wheel
chair). The agent suggested an offer of $60,000, and a closing date
of November 30th, with rental for the months of October and November,
since it would take 4-6 weeks for me to get my apartment deposit back
from Gulf Coast Village. On Monday the agent called to say the owner
had accepted my offer, but would not guarantee anything. I had
already looked the place over and tried the appliances — most
of them fairly new, so that was no obstacle. Hurriedly packing, we
moved out on October 1st, with the help of the Mullinaxes and six men
from our church, and I have enjoyed this place many years
since!
There were no complications with either the home aides
or the Medicare nurses in coming to 928 SE 46th Street #1A rather
than #326 Gulf Cost Village. And I had a parking place reserved for
me right in front of my home! No more hunting for a parking place
whenever I returned from any use of my car. But getting Mary
Charlotte into and out of bed was difficult. Then one of the home
aides asked me if I had requested a Hoyer lift. I hadn’t heard
of it, but immediately asked my nurses to look into it for me. Soon
we had a small hydraulic lift with a canvas seat that was placed
under a patient and lo! one could easily hoist the patient out of
bed, a wheel chair, or even off the floor. This was a real life-saver
when Mary Charlotte reached the point when she was a dead weight to
move. I had bought a Laz-E-Boy chair for her soon after her stroke,
which she had used occasionally, and which I slept in the nights when
she got into a talking mood for several hours. We brought that chair
to the condo, and I have slept in it every night I’ve had it —
it’s great!
On December 12th, when I left the room for
two minutes to get something from the bathroom, Mary Charlotte rolled
out of bed and landed on her face on the floor! I called the nurse’s
emergency number and was advised to take her to Cape Coral Hospital
for a check-up. This was done, with the only result a big bill for
Medicare and Blue Cross to pay. She was bruised but not otherwise
hurt.
On December 17th, at a little after 5pm, Mary Jo was pushing Mary Charlotte around our “block” in her wheel chair, when she dropped her pillow. Reaching down to pick it up, Mary Jo was horrified to see Mary Charlotte’s right foot a mass of blood! She had slipped her foot off the footrest, and allowed it to drag on the concrete, rubbing all the skin off the end of all five toes. Fortunately she was only a half block away, and rushed her home. We cleaned up the mess as well as we could and then got her into the car for yet another visit to Cape Coral Hospital’s emergency clinic. Four hours later we returned with the toes bandaged up and instructions to get proper medical attention as soon as possible. Why she didn’t give any sign of the accident, we can’t understand, as she definitely reacted to the nurse who treated the wounds. We couldn’t get her treated at the Southwest General Wound Treatment Center until the 21st, where the attending physician said only one toe was seriously damaged, but all five needed to be dressed twice a day for two weeks. Again Medicare-A provided the nursing care for this expensive treatment, and I’ve never been billed for a cent of it. At a second visit two weeks later, the surgeon said the toes were healing nicely but continued the twice-a-day treatment. He had prescribed a potent antibiotic which ran out two days after this second visit, but which he didn’t renew.
Margaret and Mary Jo arrived on schedule Saturday morning January
8th. The morning nurse reported a temperature of 104 degrees for Mary
Charlotte, and the home aide said she wouldn’t eat or drink. I
called our doctor, who thought she was perhaps reacting to the
withdrawal of the antibiotic, and prescribed another ten capsules,
which I hurriedly got. We also got fever reducing suppositories for
her, but the fever persisted all day and into the night. She had been
suffering from bed-sores for several weeks, and we couldn’t
leave her in one position for more than two hours. Each night I had
to shift her in the bed every two hours. We gave her her medicine and
left her to sleep at a little after 10pm. Mary Jo and Margaret had
offered to stay overnight, for which I was very grateful. At about
1:30am I awoke and went in to Mary Charlotte’s room to shift
her, but she was quite cold to the touch. I awakened Mary Jo and she
felt her pulse — none. She must have died soon after we left
her at 10:30. Not knowing just what to do I went back to my chair,
but soon realized that I had to take action.
I
called Dr. Gladding (see left) who had told me to do so if
needed, and he told me to call the nursing agency, who in turn told
me to call 911. In less than 5 minutes a policeman came to the door
and a few minutes later a fire truck and an ambulance. I didn’t
want them to take her to a hospital, so suggested the leader call Dr.
Gladding, who assured him that he would sign a death certificate of
natural causes. Since the afternoon nurse had left a message
indicating her critical condition, the 911 man agreed that nothing
would be gained by taking her to a hospital, so he called the
mortuary I recommended and they came an hour later and removed the
body. Later that morning I spent two hours in the mortuary, where I
had to finalize all arrangements. We would have her cremated —
no viewing, and a church memorial service later in the week. I had
called Will and Mary Francis during the night and they said they
would come as soon as they could. We arranged the memorial service
for Thursday, and it was attended by all my immediate family,
including Morgan and Evelyn, as well as some friends from Gulf Coast
Village. Of course, many from our church attended. Will was the
spokesman for the family, and he gave a beautiful eulogy for his
mother, both moving and, in places, humorous.
As
I look back on this period of nearly two years, I wonder how I could
have coped without the very considerable help of two ladies —
my sister Mary Jo (see left) and Boo Mullinax (see right)
— I do not believe I could have made it. Many other people
contributed, but none as often and as effectively as those two. My
undying thanks to them both!
A SERVICE IN MEMORY
OF
MARY CHARLOTTE MITCHELL
September 2l,
1916--January 9, 2000
Memorial Service - Evangelical
Presbyterian Church
4:00 P.M. January 13, 2000
Prelude
Call to Worship . . . . . . Psalm 121
Pastor: I lift up
my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come?
People: My
help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
Pastor: He
will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
People:
The Lord is your keeper, the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
Pastor:
The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
People:
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this thue
forth and for evermore.
Hymn of Trust (#629) “What a
Friend We Have in Jesus”
Prayer of Adoration and
Confession . . . Amen
Scripture Reading . . .
Selections
Congregational Hymn of Praise (#172) “Let Us
Love and Sing and Wonder”
Personal Remembrances
Homily
. . . Psalm 23
Prayer of Thanksgiving and Lord’s Prayer
. . . Amen
Hymn of Consolation and Praise (#600) “He
Leadeth Me”
Benediction
Postlude
After the
service, the family will receive friends in the Fellowship hall.
On Sunday morning, January 2000, Mary
Charlotte was called to her eternal home. Born September 21, 1916 in
City Point, Virginia, she was a graduate of Mary Washington College
(VA) in 1937. Mary Charlotte and her family were active in churches
on both coasts of the United States and in South Africa. Coming from
Homestead (FL) to Cape Coral in 1989, she was a faithful member of
Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral.
Mary Charlotte
is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, Herbert; son William
Montgomery (wife Judy) Mitchell of Shreveport, LA; daughter Mary
Francis (husband Paul) Aguilar of Denver, CO; two grandchildren and
one great-grandchild.
A gifted woman, avid gardener, faithful
letter writer, and traveler extraordinary, Mary Charlotte was a
student, especially of the Scriptures, probing their mysteries,
discussing their implications. A lover of all that was beautiful, in
thought and word, in note and tone, in form and color, she was an
advocate for Christian missions, enthusiastic, generous and
articulate in their importance. A worthy wife and mother, jealous
that her family, like herself, would walk in truth; she was a herald
of grace, quick to confess that all her gifts and graces —
which were many — earned her nothing with God. Forerunner now
to the heavenly regions, gazing firsthand at the glory of the
Redeemed she loved, and loved to proclaim.
Participants in the service:
Rev. Eric
Mullinax
Rev. Randy Lovelace
Mrs. Paula Valkenburg
Memorial
contributions may be made to HAFF
(Haitian American Friendship
Foundation)
At
the time of my consultation with the undertaker on January 9 I had
purchased an urn in which to bury Mary Charlotte’s ashes. She
had wanted to be buried beside her mother’s grave in Palmetto
Cemetery, a private burial ground near Lewisburg TN (managed by her
cousin Thomas Montgomery). When his sickness prevented us from doing
this in late January, we set March 3 as the burial date, and invited
family from both sides to participate. Mary Jo offered to drive me up
to Tennessee, and Thomas had invited us to spend the night before at
his home.
Will,
Judy, Mark and Cristina (the last three are shown in the picture to
the right) all came, as well as Mary Charlotte’s cousin Bill
Phillips and his wife lnge. Thomas and his wife Tina prepared a
sumptuous luncheon for all of us. So even though it was a sad
occasion, as we were forcefully reminded of her departure, it was
nevertheless heart-warming to have so many relatives there.
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