URGENT- Please Pray For Celesta!

[Stephen Thomas]

so sorry for all who loved her.....she sounds like a wonderful person and a tremendous loss to humanity

Too true, Jason

I'm getting on in years now and have been around a bit, meeting untold thousands of people and have to say that Linda was quite the nicest person that I ever encountered.

[lynn cates]

email

Hello Bunny. I am so sorry.

I have sent you an email.

Cheers.
LC

[Ginger]

My condolences to those who loved her.

[Tom_Wescott]

Rip

I'm heartbroken by this. She was one of us, and one of the good ones.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Magpie]

This is heartbreaking news.

Despite bracing myself for this for several days, finally hearing the news is still a shock.

Thank you for keeping us abreast, Archaic. Linda was fortunate to have a friend like you.

[Archaic]

Diagnosis

Hi everyone. I have a little more information regarding Linda's medical situation. First let me give you some background information:

For the past six months as Linda sought medical help to deal with her inability to eat without being made violently ill. We all had been terribly worried about a possible recurrence of the cancer she had years ago; that was her biggest fear. Linda was leery of even going to the doctor at all because she so dreaded the possibility of being told she had cancer again. She told me she didn't think she had the strength to go through that again.

A couple of doctors told her she was fine and sent her home, which discouraged her and made me mad as hell! I urged her to keep trying. Linda said she could tell she had a blockage in her intestines. It took all summer, but finally she found a doctor who took her seriously and ordered the appropriate tests. He confirmed there was an intestinal blockage. On the 1st she had surgery. To our great relief, the blockage was found to be scar tissue from previous radiation therapy back when she had pelvic cancer. She seemed to be recuperating well, but then began to have the same problems again- inability to eat, large quantities of bile, etc.

The surgeon didn't want to perform a second surgery so soon, but tests confirmed she had another blockage. On Oct 15 he operated again and removed it. We were overjoyed that tests confirmed she didn't have cancer, and he saw no sign of Chron's Disease either. We thought she was home free. This surgery was rougher on her, coming so close to the previous one, but she was recuperating slowly. We expected her to do some physical therapy, start eating again, and then get to go home again. Linda was recuperating from this surgery when she suddenly went into cardiac arrest approximately 12 days post-surgery. (Sorry I'm fuzzy on the time-frame; in my head the calender is all scrunched together.)

Linda had a lot of edema from being bed-ridden on iv's for so long. This fluid seems to have built up on her lungs and exhausted her heart, culminating in cardiac arrest late last week. We don't know how long it was before she was discovered. I specifically asked, having experienced the effects of anoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain) with my own father, and when I was told that the most optimistic guess was "five minutes" my heart sank.

Today after Linda passed away the doctors examined her. They discovered that her small intestine was virtually destroyed, almost certainly as a result of the old radiation treatments for cancer. He said he had never seen a small intestine in a similar state. The doctor told her family that the finding suddenly made many previously baffling questions clear.

The doctor said that if Linda had not experienced the cardiac arrest, but instead had recuperated in the hospital and then gone home, she would have landed right back in the hospital within a short period of time due to the dreadful condition of her small intestine. She would have undergone another round of tests and scans and examinations, and experienced the same distressing inability to eat. I won't go in to all the details, but her suffering would have been prolonged while they tried again to discover the cause of her symptoms.

Linda absolutely hated all the tubes she was hooked up to, especially the naso-gastric tube to drain off huge quantities of bile. She also loathed the severe edema caused by having to be hooked up to iv fluids all the time because she couldn't eat food.

Her husband Tom thinks that somehow Linda knew what was in store for her- more hospitalizations and more suffering- and instead chose to go on her own terms.
I don't know... I think that's possible. When he said that to me I got the image of a little sailboat slipping its mooring and drifting away.

We both agree that Linda was sick of being sick, sick of being shuttled to and fro between doctors, and sick of trying to convince the doctors that something was wrong. We know she was sick of tubes and needles and tests and machines.

I hope with all my heart that Linda is free now... healthy, whole, and at peace.

Much as it hurts me to let her go, I feel that she truly is at peace, and I'm grateful for that.

The thing I want most most is for her to know how many of us loved her, and still love her.

Bunny

[Hunter]

From August 25, 2012:



Thanks everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes!

Also, to those of you who have held me in your thoughts or prayers during my long illness, I can't thank you enough. It really has been a nightmare, but slowly I'm emerging from it and trying to regain my balance. Thank you and bless you.

Robert, there was a small piece of cake left, and I'll ship off to you on Monday, Mmmm--mmmm. Chocolate raspberry truffle* cake.

*Not the smelly kind of truffles people dig out of the ground, but nice chocolate ones.
__________________
"What our ancestors would really be thinking, if they were alive today, is: "Why is it so dark in here?"" From Pyramids by Sir Terry Pratchett, a British National Treasure.

_-Celesta-
Happily married American dog lover



_________________________________

[Robert]

Hi Bunny

I think she knew she was loved.

If what you are saying means that Linda would only have suffered more if she'd lived, with no hope of an end to it, then her death makes a sort of sense, because I wouldn't want her to suffer. I had the same thing with my mum. But it's still hard, it's still "if only..."

And Linda if you're reading this, I want a piece of angel cake.

[Limehouse]

Today, November 1st, is All Saints Day. Linda was what I call 'an earthly saint' - someone who cared passionately about others and worked hard to make live rewarding and positive. Today, in Heaven, Linda is taking her place among the saints, resting peacefully and free from pain.

[Natalie Severn]

Bunny,
Many thanks for going to the trouble of explaining with such love and care.
We will remember Linda for the brave,thoughtful , lovely and loving person she was,
Norma

[Monty]

As a grizzly, narled, cantankerous Ripperologist I am shot by this news.

Our dealings were brief but always enjoyable. My thoughts to those who loved and were loved by Linda.

Tomorrow I shall be in the White Hart in Whitechapel...a glass will be raised.

Monty

[j.r-ahde]

Hello you all!

My condolences. Good memories from my active days on these forums.

All the best
Jukka

[Archaic]

Honoring Linda

Thanks everyone for sharing your feelings, prayers, and good memories of Linda.

I received a pm from someone who wanted to make a donation to one of the animal charities in Linda's name, but said she could only afford a small donation and she felt bad about it.

Please don't anyone feel that way. We all know times are tough. And as anyone who knows the story of the Widow's Mite will understand, it's not the size of the donation that matters, but the loving intention behind it.

I just realized this thread for Linda has already had over 2,300 page-views! Just imagine the good we can do in the world in Linda's name if everybody visiting this thread donates $5 to the charity of their choice!

If people can donate even the $5 they would otherwise have blown on their next latte, it will really make a difference in the lives of the people and animal it touches. And they will go on to touch other lives in a positive way. That's a fitting legacy for our friend Linda.

If you can't make a donation, maybe you can remember Linda's friendliness and good-heartedness by doing something kind for a stranger, introducing yourself to a neighbor, or by extending the olive branch to someone with whom you've quarreled with in the past here on Casebook?

I can't even tell you how much that would please her! She would be overjoyed. Honestly. Linda took strife and divisiveness very much to heart, and a beautiful way to honor her is to sew the seeds of peace, respect, and friendship right now while your heart is softened by her passing.

Kind regards,
Archaic

[Ally]

So very sorry to hear this. Our thoughts are with her family and all who loved her.

[babybird67]

someone once said to me, internet friends cannot be true friends.

I only know that I am crying over the loss of a wonderful lady I never even met.

Celesta was truly an inspired choice of name, for nobody shone more brightly or was more of a sparkle from heaven than Linda.

My condolences to her family, and to you Bunny...I cannot begin to imagine how devastated you must feel.

Thanks for sharing more of the details of her illness...more suffering would not have been good. Sometimes it is the right thing to let go.

Jen xx

(I will keep a seat warm for her at the next meet of Hutchaholics Anonymous)