Mr.
Kevin Sowers
President
Duke University Hospital
2301
Erwin Road
Durham,
NC 27710
919-684-8111
November
30 2012
Dear
Mr. Sowers,
I
am writing this letter on behalf of my late Mom who would be pleased
for me to write this letter to the talented and dedicated men and
women at Duke University Hospital who took care of my Mom while under
their care. Mr. Sowers, I do hope that you will read this letter in
its entirety, and share it with Dr. Knudsen, Dr. Barfield, and the
Duke ICU Medical Team because it is written from my heart.
Background:
My
Mom, Etta Mae Chambers was 87 years old, fell in late July, broke her
hip which required surgery, and was hospitalized in ICU at Duke
University Medical Center for about 4 weeks. Initially, after several
days in ICU, her tummy began to extend and a scan revealed she had a
small intestine blockage which also required surgery. Her hip was
repaired by Dr. Zura and surgery was successful. Then Dr. Vaslef
performed surgery to repair the intestinal blockage and unfortunately
her intestines swelled in surgery, but were subsequently successfully
closed up 3 days later when her intestinal swelling had reduced
enough to perform the surgery.
My
Mom was a small lady at 105 lbs. and while in the hospital her legs
swelled up 2 times normal size with fluid, and then keeping her
oxygen level and blood pressure up was a constant issue for the ICU
team. I stayed with her in ICU for two weeks and in the third week
she had been moved out of ICU and was beginning to eat and showing
improvement.
Mom
was moved from ICU to a regular room and was improving so I came back
home to Greenville, SC to be with my family. Then after one week in
her room she was improving and was moved from Duke Hospital to a
Rehab Center. Suddenly, on August 15th the day after her 2nd night in rehab, I got a call from my brother; overnight her
blood pressure dropped to 95/65 and her oxygen level had dropped to
60%, and she was rushed back to Duke ICU. The primary issues we had
been worried about for her were blood clots and/or pneumonia. She
rapidly started building fluid in her lungs and heart. On many
occasions Mom had told all 3 sons that she did not want to be put on
a ventilator to live, or fed by a tube to live, or pouncing on her
chest if her heart stopped. The only alternative the medical team had
at this point was to insert a tube in her chest to remove fluid, put
her on ventilator, and feed her intravenously. Even then we all felt
it was very unlikely she would survive or have any quality of life.
My
two brothers and I made one of the hardest decisions that any sons
could ever make, but we had to carry out Mom's wishes. That decision
was so hard to do even though we knew any medical intervention at
this point probably would not help.
When
my brother called me on the morning of Aug 15th, I knew Mom had
always pulled through her medical problems, and therefore I still
clung onto hope. After the phone call, my
wife Dianne and I immediately got in the car and drove 4 hours from
Greenville SC to Duke to be with Mom. As soon as we got in the car to
leave for Duke, we called my brother in ICU and asked to speak to
Mom. On the phone I told Mom to hang in there and that I was on my
way to Durham and we loved her so much. In a faint voice she said
“ok”.
We
arrived at 6:00pm and my brothers Bobby and Wallace had been there
all day with Mom. I cried until I could not cry anymore when I saw
her; as I knew by looking at her and looking at her vitals that time
was drawing near. All 3 sons stayed by the bedside with Mom in the
ICU room until the end, and this is the way she would have wanted it
to be, her 3 sons by her side until the end. She passed away at
exactly 12:00 midnight on Aug 15/16.
You
know, God's plan is divine, and most of all God's plan is perfect. No
matter how much we will miss Mom she is in no more pain and
suffering, and she had told me on more than one occasion in the last
several years that she was tired of the aches and pain, and longed to
be with her Lord, and her husband William, who passed away in 1989.
There
is nothing like a Mom, especially to a son. Growing up, Mom's bring
you into the world, nuture you, and a son always has a warm place in
their heart for a Mom, no matter where they live or how often they
see their Mom. I would talk to Mom 2-3 times a week. Her hand
probably got weary sometimes from holding the phone. She would always
end our conversation by saying “ I love you Shugg” [sugar]. I
miss hearing that every week. When Moms get older, a son feels that
he has to talk to and take care of his Mom, because it is his Mom,
and she is special.
It
is our great loss but Heaven's great gain, and Heaven has now been
blessed with the presence of 2 wonderful people in my Mom and Dad,
Etta Mae and William Chambers.
I
cannot say enough good things about Duke because my Mom had
extraordinary care, especially in ICU, great Surgeons, loving and
caring Doctors and Nurses. The total care she received by everyone
was unsurpassed, which I experienced first hand since I spent at
least 12 hours every day in ICU for 2 weeks with Mom. It was so
apparent to me that Duke is a special place with really special
people who want to make life better for those who are so sick.
I
recall a situation that happened at Duke which I had never
experienced in my life in a hospital, and I told this to the Critical
Care Team while meeting with me in the conference room one day. One
morning Dr. Michael Barfield/General Surgery came into the ICU room
to examine Mom, introduced himself to us, and he knew from our
conversation with him that we were Christians. After he completed his
examination of Mom, he took off his gown and gloves, walked out of
the room, started walking down the hall, looked back at me, and
something happened that I will never forget as long as I live. Dr.
Barfield said, I want to pray with you. He put on his gown and
gloves, walked backed into the room over to Mom's bed, then asked us,
what does everyone call her, and we told him MeMaw. He put his hand
on her shoulder, held my hand, and I held my other two brothers hands
while he prayed.He prayed the most beautiful prayer for MeMaw, he
then took off his gown and gloves, and said we need to do more of
this around here and walked out of the room. His prayer meant so much
to my family.
A
few days later I went to get some coffee and I walked by a very
distraught young girl who looked like she was in her mid 20's who was
with an older lady who appeared to be her Mom. The girl was weeping
out of control and lying on one of the seats by the window outside
the elevators. On my way back from getting my coffee, I saw Dr.
Barfield sitting beside her and consoling her to the best of his
ability. I stood in the distance and watched how he took his time to
try and be of some comfort to her in a time of deep distress and
apparent loss. Dr. Barfield is a special man and Duke should be proud
that they have educated and trained a wonderful Physician, who will
help many for years to come those who will be so sick and some will
be feeling at the end of their rope, such as that young girl who was
sitting on the seat outside the elevators.
Duke
is not just a building made of stones with lots of equipment and lots
of Doctors and Nurses running around just performing a job to get
paid to do so. It was evident to me that Duke is a special place with
gifted people who have hearts and souls who love people and are using
their special God given talents to do whatever is necessary to help
every person to leave Duke University Hospital and have a better
quality of life.
I
also cannot say enough good things about Dr. Nancy Knudsen/ICU
Critical Care who I interacted with when my Mom had surgery and was
on 2nd
Floor ICU for weeks. Dr. Knudsen was so supportive and she even
scheduled the Palliative Care Team to meet with us to answer any
questions we had and to provide loving support for our family while
my Mom was suffering. The Care Team made us feel special and we knew
they were doing everything possible to provide the best care possible
for our Mom. I would see Dr. Knudsen every day and most days I would
see her work long days, even working into the night after her shift
had ended. She worked hard doing whatever she could to help her
patients, and she worked as a team member with other Doctors and
Nurses in her ICU Unit to do whatever was necessary to get her
patients better. Dr. Knudsen, you and your ICU Team were a blessing
to my Mom and our family, and God bless you for all you did.
During
my time of stress it was very comforting to have a visit by the
Chaplain, Scott Himel, who gave his spiritual support. I remember
when he came to visit, it was at a time I needed spiritual support
because I was seeing my Mom fighting so hard to live and get better
and I just felt helpless.
What
makes Duke Medical Center a special place and a world class hospital
is the total commitment of all the dedicated Nurses and Doctors to
the patients and their families, and it was evident by their actions
they are in these jobs to improve a person's quality of life.
I
remember talking to one of Mom's ICU Nurses who had been employed at
Wake Medical and had always wanted to be at Duke University Medical
Center and finally got a job, and was so happy to be at Duke. This is
the kind of Hospital that medical professionals desire to come to,
not to leave, because of Duke's reputation as a world class medical
hospital which I experienced first hand.
Personally,
on behalf of my family, I want to close by thanking all of you for
everything you did for my Mom and may God bless each of you and Duke
University Hospital.
Bruce
BRUCE
W. CHAMBERS
304
WOODBRIDGE WAY
SIMPSONVILLE,
SC 29681
HOME:
864-288-6093
CELL:
864-420-1719
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