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Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:34 am
by BioDocFL
Harry,

I am sorry to hear about your loss. Please continue to participate at ThisIsMS because you are an experienced voice. Your input helps those of us who are not so directly affected but who want to help figure out this disease.

Wesley

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 3:47 am
by OddDuck
Harry,

I'm shocked..........I'm so sorry!!!

Deb

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 10:40 am
by HarryZ
I received a preliminary autopsy report for Marg.

Her primary cause of death was sepsis brought on by severe pancreatitis. Although her pancreatitis was not life threatening when she was admitted to hospital, it quickly became very severe and very quickly. Add to this her poor eating habits in recent months which resulted in very low protein levels, her system simply didn't have the reserves to fight off the other problems.

At some point in the last few months and although she kept it to herself, I have to believe that Marg knew how sick she was getting and what quality of life lay ahead of her....and it wasn't good.

They say that MS doesn't kill you but in this case and after breaking her leg 6 years ago, it certainly provided the ground work for other severe situations to manifest themselves with Marg.

The final autopsy results won't be available for some 8-10 months and perhaps I will know more at that time.

Harry

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 6:18 am
by TwistedHelix
Harry,
I regard it as a privilege that you feel able to share this information with us at what must be a very sad time for you.
I absolutely agree with what you say about the whole " MS doesn't kill you" thing. I suppose it's true in a technical, literal sense, but I'm sure it can leave you in a weakened state and vulnerable to opportunistic infections.
My mum had several infections while in hospital: she had difficulty swallowing and I believe she may have aspirated some water several times, (she was supposed to be nil by mouth, but she was still given food and drink by grossly incompetent Health Care workers – don't get me started on the NHS), she also had a very weakened capacity for coughing – as I do – so she was unable to clear things which went down the wrong way. These two things were because of MS, and they led to infection, so I've concluded that MS indirectly led to her death.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:13 am
by HarryZ
Dom,
TwistedHelix wrote:Harry,
I regard it as a privilege that you feel able to share this information with us at what must be a very sad time for you.
Yes, this is a sad time for me but when one can share information with others who are in the "same boat", the thought that someone can benefit from Marg's experience makes it easier to get through each day.

Over the years I have seen how MS has affected hundreds of friends and what it did to Marg and your mom. It is a disease without a conscience and can slice you one piece at a time. If you can stay slightly ahead of it then you can have some quality of life along the way.

When Marg saw her quality slipping away, her outlook changed and it was very difficult to watch from a spouse's point of view. While not a pleasent experience I have certainly learned to understand how a person in her predicament views life. Hopefully I can share that with those who require some assistance along the way.

Harry

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:54 am
by robbie
Why are you having these autopsies done, how will it benefit you or us? What you said about Marg's outlook changing really hits home, god bless her.
When Marg saw her quality slipping away, her outlook changed and it was very difficult to watch from a spouse's point of view. While not a pleasent experience I have certainly learned to understand how a person in her predicament views life. Hopefully I can share that with those who require some assistance along the way

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:18 am
by Lyon
.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:54 am
by HarryZ
robbie wrote:Why are you having these autopsies done, how will it benefit you or us? What you said about Marg's outlook changing really hits home, god bless her.
When Marg saw her quality slipping away, her outlook changed and it was very difficult to watch from a spouse's point of view. While not a pleasent experience I have certainly learned to understand how a person in her predicament views life. Hopefully I can share that with those who require some assistance along the way
Why? Two main reasons:

1) Marg got very sick after she was admitted to the hospital and the docs could not tell me what actually caused her death. I'm not sure if you have ever been in a similar situation but it is important to know these things when it comes time to obtaining closure.

2) I am trying to share knowledge in the hope that others may learn when it comes to this disease. Also, because Marg had MS for over 36 years, they were going to do a detailed examination of her brain. The information that they may discover is going to be passed on to the MS Clinic at the same hospital. Marg's neurologist may just learn something from this report that will help him in the treatment of other MS patients.

Bottom line...this info may just help a few readers on this forum and that's what ThisIsMs is all about.....sharing information and ideas with those who have MS. I hope this answers your questions.

Harry

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:57 am
by HarryZ
Lyon wrote:It would be interesting to know how many, if any, death certificates actually list MS as the cause of death. I've always assumed, I'm sure because I've read it somewhere, that most people with MS, who die before their time, actually die of complications as a result of MS, but it seems that in only a very few cases would it be completely accurate to list MS as directly causing their heart to quit beating.
Bob,

I'm willing to bet that very few death certificates list MS as an actual cause of death. Heck, they don't even know what causes the disease and know even less about the mechanism of how it effects the body. But one thing is for certain.....the disease certainly provides a "home" for other problems to develop.

Harry

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:25 pm
by Lyon
.

So sorry for your loss

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:54 pm
by DenverCO
Harry,

I just read your post, and I am so very sorry for your loss. Take care of yourself. You are in my thoughts.

Rebekah

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 9:55 am
by gwa
Harry,

Put me down on the list as one who is interested in your wife's autopsy report. I have been diagnosed about the same time frame as she was, so the state of her brain is important to me too.

It is unfortunate that the only way to actively pinpoint the decay of the brain in MS is after death.

gwa

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 3:35 pm
by HarryZ
Gwa,
Put me down on the list as one who is interested in your wife's autopsy report. I have been diagnosed about the same time frame as she was, so the state of her brain is important to me too.

It is unfortunate that the only way to actively pinpoint the decay of the brain in MS is after death.

gwa
OK...but you'll have to wait quite some time. I've been told that it will take 8-10 months before the final report will be completed!

Harry

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:34 pm
by gwa
Harry,

I will be around and waiting for the report.

Why so long a wait for the autopsy?

gwa

Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 4:45 am
by HarryZ
gwa wrote:Harry,

I will be around and waiting for the report.

Why so long a wait for the autopsy?

gwa
Because it was an elective autopsy , has very low priority for the follow-up lab tests that are required and these tests can take weeks to conduct.

Harry