On Saturday, November 28, 2020, 12:55:17 PM CST, Steve Wheeler <steven.r.wheeler@...> wrote:
My girlfriend Marion died this morning. She hadn't wanted it generally known, but she was diagnosed with what what described as "a rare syndrome based on an underlying dementia."
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The specific condition is known as Posterior Cortical Atrophy, and a reasonable shorthand definition is "Alzheimer's that starts by affecting the visual cortex." In the three years since her diagnosis, she had lost much of her mental and physical capabilities. Although she could still converse, she had trouble finding the correct words, and physically, she was effectively?blind (her?eyes were still good, but her?brain couldn't interpret the incoming data), and could no longer take care of herself.
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Last night, she got part of her dinner caught in her throat. I tried the Heimlich maneuver without success and called 911. We have a fire station a few blocks away, so the EMTs were there almost immediately. They were also unsuccessful with unblocking her airway.
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Marion suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, but they were able to restart her heart and stabilize her once she was in the ER. Around 1 am, they called me to come to the hospital because her blood pressure had dropped significantly, and they felt she didn't have long. Her heart stopped again just before 3 am, and she did not respond to CPR.
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New Years would have marked 25 years that we'd been together. I'm going to miss her so much.
