Monday night at 8:23pm, in the Palliative Care section of the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, my mother, Mary Albers, slipped quietly from our world and into God’s hands. It is difficult to moment to describe, but was certainly the weirdest, yet most awe inspiring moment I have ever witnessed…and one will never forget.

Mom waged a long battle with congestive heart disease, following a bout of Rheumatic Fever brought on by an untreated case of strep-throat back in the late 1950′s. Rheumatic Fever is responsible for many of the cases of damaged heart-valves worldwide, of which the late Lou Costello was also a victim. Mom had elected for open-heart surgery nearly six weeks ago, but her physical strength was not enough to allow her the opportunity to recuperate. She was simply too weak.

This will be a difficult time for surviving family. Although we have always lived our lives with Mom’s serious health issues hanging above our heads, we had all (including Mom) chosen to do so to the fullest regardless. Her absence will be sorely missed, yet will be a continuing testament to those who refuse to sit on the sidelines and allow life to pass them by. I pray that we all have the opportunity to be that strong in our faith.

NOTE: Funeral arrangements have been finalized for Mary with visitation set from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 24th at Phillips Funeral Home in Keystone and the Funeral at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Van Horne at 3:00 p.m on Friday, July 25th.  The Committal Service will be at the Keystone Cemetery after the Church Service and a lunch will be provided back at the Church following the Committal Service.  Further information may be found on Phillips Funeral Home web site!  Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

We thank all of you for your continued support

Got this message from my step-father, Larry Albers:

Mary is still in Surgical ICU at University Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City in Bay#2, Bed#6. I have been reluctant to write due to things changing from day to day with what I write today being incorrect tomorrow!She is approx. 9 days past surgery with her blood pressure sometimes going down when they remove the heart medication completely and her oxygenation being too low to breathe on her own at times. She has had the breathing tube inserted a 2nd time, which is now out again as of Tuesday afternoon. However, she has had to have breathing help during times of sleep with a forced face mask and has a small air mask at other times for assistance.

Her kidney functions have been slightly above average since surgery but are not alarming at this point. Her liver functions were in the normal range several days ago but have been elevated some the past two days. The good news is that she has sat in a chair several times for periods of 2 hours at a time. She is extremely weak and is being fed with a nasal tube only.

Please continue your thoughts and prayers for her recovery. At best, I would guess that she will not get out of the ICU area for at least several more days, providing her breathing can be done without forced aid. Thanks again to all for everything!!

Larry Albers

Mom did have a few rough days immediately after heart surgery. Her breathing became rather labored and her heart-rate was racing like a jack-rabbit. Although she struggled through it, she is still plugging away. I’m sure there were a few days after surgery that she wondered why she chose to have surgery in the first place. How a person recovers from surgery can be awfully difficult to predict. We are glad she’s managed to do as well as she has. Please keep Mom in your hearts and prayers. The entire Albers/Lambing clan will gladly appreciate it.

Just received this mass email from from my step-father, Larry, this evening.

Welcome to the Albers Family roller coaster ride! Mary was admitted at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City on May 27th as scheduled. However, several days later, she started having kidney issues, probably due to the dye from her cathiterzation the previous week and her liver was still not getting rid of the toxins as needed. They placed a cathiter in the right side of her neck on Thursday evening to monitor her heart output on both sides. She was moved to the CVICU Unit, which gave her constant care.

Last Friday evening, I was told by the CVICU Cardiologist, who is also a Heart Failure Specialist, that surgery was probably not an alternative and that she had a limited time to live. I contacted all family members and a conference call was held on Saturday morning with a decision that we all meet with this Specialist on Sunday evening at the Hospital. At that meeting, she was asked specifically if surgery was at all possible and her answer was NO. She then informed Mary about not having surgery and the family was going to work on other solutions such as hospice, etc. This was started during the day yesterday with several conferences involving family members. We contacted Oldorf Hospice House in Cedar Rapids and arranged a meeting involving Mary in her room this morning.

However, I encountered the Surgeon, Dr. Helman, in the corridor last evening and he asked why the Heart Failure Cardiologist aborted the surgery and I gave him multiple reasons including over 50% failure possibility along with other bad case scenarios, even if the actual surgery is a success! He stated that we should possibly re-visit surgery as he had a somewhat different view of her situation. She had gotten better than she was on Friday evening due to adjustment of medication. But he also stated that it would be very, very difficult due to her complicated overall condition.

This morning, Oldorf Hospice House in Cedar Rapids visited with Mary about going that route, but later in the morning, a Social Worker asked her about having surgery, if it was possible. She opted for surgery immediately, so we arranged another meeting with the current Heart Failure Specialist on duty this evening to explain directly to Mary and the family members again as to what future problems she may face, even if she makes it thru surgery and recovery.

She again is steadfast in wanting surgery against very great odds so is being transferred tomorrow morning to the pre-surgery unit. I will let everyone know when the surgery is scheduled, unless something else gets in the way beforehand! I hope this clears up some of the confusion that has been stated around the community the past several days, but ultimately, possible surgery or no surgery is Mary’s decision.

Please keep her in your prayers and thoughts as she is in need of as much spiritual help as possible.

~Larry Albers

Mom’s health took another nasty blow over the weekend. She simply isn’t getting better. The right side of her heart is weakening, which means her internal organs are (once again) becoming starved for nutrients. On Friday, Mom was too tired to hold any sort of conversation and Larry was obviously beside himself. I had brought Angie and my kids with me, but Larry soon whisked us to an adjacent empty room shortly after our arrival.
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Spent the weekend over at the folks place to see how mom was adjusting to life in the real world. It was good to see her back in her natural environment: napping on the couch.

Mom is a bit uneasy on her feet, although that didn’t keep her from walking around the living room, checking out the snow outside, turning on the fireplace, organizing magazines or flipping through the assortment of Get-Well and Birthday cards sitting atop the entertainment center. Usually, she’s scooting around with a walker which has tennis balls surrounding the normal rubber-feet on the front. That way, she can just walk without having to lift the walker off the ground. I don’t know who thought of that, but its pretty ingenious.

Her sister, Barbara, called Sunday afternoon and they chatted for almost an hour. There’s talk of my sisters coming over during various weekends, to watch over mom while Larry is out bowling or attending an insurance conference. She’s ready to drive, but mom’s lack of upper-body strength means she won’t be able to drive anything without power-steering. Maybe in a couple weeks.

Her appetite is better. Most likely, it’s because she’s no longer on any diet restrictions, so she can munch on as much pineapple as she pleases. She’s stuck with a two-month memory gap, so her natural instinct was to think she needed to be at the office; helping Larry with end-of-the-year financial management of their independent insurance business. When we told her that it had already been done, she shook her head and commented, “I can’t believe it’s been that long.”

Mom doesn’t remember much of the ordeal, which is probably for the best.

Update as of Feb.8, 2008: from Larry Albers
I picked Mary up yesterday afternoon at Vinton and she is now at home from her long escapade in the Hospital. She is managing the home very well with the assistance of a walker, as she is still somewhat unsteady when she is without it. She is doing more on her own by the hour, but still needs rest frequently. It will probably be several more weeks before she can do almost everything independently and with some endurance involved. Meanwhile, I have become “head cook and bottle washer, etc.”, which is better than the alternative.

Again, thank you to all who showed their caring ways with gifts, flowers, food, cards, phone calls, well-wishes, etc. and especially prayers as we are still blessed with her presence.

~Larry Albers
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Latest update as of 1/9/07 @ 11:00p.m.
Finally… a good 24 hours. Spent some time with Mom tonight and she was more alert and talkative than she had been the entire week. She kept saying to herself, “I just need to quit worrying.” When I asked her what about, she replied, “Everything.”

Mom’s mostly worried about my step-father, Larry, and their independent insurance agency in Van Horne, Iowa. I kept reinforcing to her that what she really needed to do was: eat, rest, get healthy. I told her that Larry was doing OK and that their employee, Amy, was doing her best to hold down the fort during Mom’s absence.

Mom had removed her feeding tube all on her own… AGAIN! So, in order for the doctors to NOT replace it, she’s been informed that she needs to eat. She had a little bit of left-over chocolate cake from her evening meal. Mostly, she ate the frosting. I can’t blame her… the cake was kinda’ dry.

Mostly, we talked about her physical therapy, which involves her getting out of bed and walking the halls. Mom’s comment was, “Gosh. It’s so hard…. I hurt everywhere.” I massaged her feet and she mentioned that the middle-toe on her left foot was awfully sore. It didn’t look swollen, but I had Emily, Mom’s evening nurse, to take a look. I’m not sure if she saw anything unusual.

Hopefully, we’ll have many more days of improvement such as this. Let’s all cross our fingers and say a little prayer.

~Dennis
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