Final Farewell

Memorial Service

Wednesday, September 11, 2013, 6:00 p.m., 
Gardena Valley Baptist Church

Reception to follow in the Community Center

Burial Service

Thursday, September 12, 2013, 11:00 a.m., Green Hill Memorial Park

Listed as private, but Kari said anyone who wishes to attend is welcome

Saying Goodbye

As difficult as it was to say goodbye, I believe the Lord allowed Kari and the family to 

have a lovely send off for the man they called husband, father, brother, friend.

The hospital staff was very gracious and accommodating, allowing the
support group to stand at Dennis' side as they turned off the machines. 

Dennis' only sister, Amy, and her husband were able to
make it to the hospital (from Seattle) just in time to say their goodbyes.

Kari said Dennis loved this old hymn.  

He was a man of faith and went confidently to be with his Lord.

Be Thou My Vision

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKByTfiHOFE

Support

I will post the funeral arrangements when they are completed.  In the meantime, if anyone would like to provide a meal for the family, I am condensing my original meal schedule to include all dates through September 14.  Let me know if you are interested and I will schedule you.  For those people already scheduled, I will contact you to adjust your date as needed.

Throughout this ordeal, Kari has been totally overwhelmed by the love and support she and the kids have received.  She cannot say enough good things about the people who have prayed for them, given monetary gifts, made meals, and even run errands for them.  She is eternally grateful.

You have brought comfort to her just like 

this cute little comfort dog did when he visited the waiting room today.

August 22, 2013

Dennis is being kept alive by machines.  The doctor said his liver has shut down, his kidneys haven't worked unassisted from the beginning, his heart is being driven by two different machines now (LVAD and ECMO), he's on a respirator which is breathing for him and his blood system is affected from lack of oxygen, imbalance in the system caused by medications , trauma, and bleeding.

A Family Meeting was held with all the doctors, nurses, and medical staff who had been involved with Dennis' case. The Summarized the history and his current condition and then answered any questions the group had.

It was good to hear the doctors state that their goal was to get Dennis back to a place he had been only days before.  Walking with assistance, eating, and spending time with is family.  They stressed that they would make every effort to get him back on track, however, his body had suffered a major assault and they weren't sure if that was going to be possible.  But they were going to try every measure until the time Dennis' body let them know it just wasn't going to heal.  At the point they felt it was futile, they would let the family know and then they would have to make some decisions.

That moment came at 8:45 in the evening.  Every measure they had tried was just not giving the necessary results.  At 9:00 Kari and the family decided that Dennis' body was telling everyone "enough" and they requested that the doctors to remove all support and just make him comfortable.

August 21, 2013

At 3:00 a.m., the hospital called Kari to tell her Dennis' heart had arrested and that she and the boys should get down there right away.  She called me and I drove her, Kevin and Sam to UCLA (Freeway is very nice at that time of the day :)  Matt and Rita and Pastor Steve and Nancy met us there.

We arrived around 3:30 a.m., but were not allowed to see Dennis as a team of doctors and nurses were working to stabilize him.

At 6:00 a.m, some more issues arose in Dennis' body.  Apparently he was bleeding a lot and Dr. Ardahali decided to do exploratory surgery to try and resolve the issue.  He could not find the source of the bleeding and simply packed him and sewed him back up.  Bleeding then slowed, but Dennis was extremely swollen with old and new blood everywhere.  He was extremely critical with many, many things wrong with his body

Kari, Marcia, Karla (Kari's sister) and I ended up spending the night in the waiting room.

August 20, 2013

Another rough day for the Maedas.  This morning, Kari was told that surgery would happen in the morning, but they weren't sure what time since Dr. Ardahali had other surgeries scheduled.  While they waited, Kari said Dennis didn't look normal and he was still hallucinating a bit.  The waiting got frustrating!

At 4:00 p.m., Dr. Ardahali came in to see Dennis and after checking all the appropriate numbers decided surgery couldn't wait until the morning and had to be done right now.

At 7:30, surgery began to discover what kind of fluid was putting pressure on his heart.  By 8:30, Dennis was in recover and Dr. Ardahali said it was a good thing they did the surgery tonight because they found a lot of old blood clots and some new blood as well.

Two drainage tubes were put in Dennis to drain all the blood and were left there, at least for the night. Tonight, as of 11:00 p.m., there was still blood draining and the nurse practitioner said she would not yet call him stable. They were also giving him more blood and plasma to boost his system.

Here are a few pictures from earlier in the evening as we waited in "Maddie's Room", the surgery waiting room.

This is Maddie's Room where people wait for their loved ones to come out of surgery.
It was pretty quiet there tonight.  Of course, it was after 9:00 p.m.!

This is Sam watching shows on her computer. While the boys were....

...watching the last UCLA football team open practice.  Go Bruins!

Kari stayed busy doing her favorite hobby, crocheting!
Earlier, Joanne and Ruth were there crocheting with her.

Long night.  Kari will be back at UCLA bright and early in the morning.  Pray for her health and stamina!

Life on Campus

Dennis loves UCLA, although he never imagined he'd be spending so much time here!

Here's the hallway that Kari walks many times a day.  Through the double doors to room 7415.

And this is how you entertain yourself while you're waiting...iphones!