My friend's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer 4 or 5 months ago. Even though she was elderly, she decided that she wanted to try chemo to rid herself of the cancer. She had two treatments and had to stop because she became very ill. So ill that she has been in and out of the hospital several times for various reasons. She recently came back to the hospital 4 weeks ago. She had several infections and needed to be hospitalized. Her husband came to visit as often as he could, but being in his late 80's, it was hard for him to get around. My friend stayed with her mother day in and day out hoping that any day, her infections would clear up and she could take her mother home.
One day, while her father came up to see her mother, she left to go home for a bit and get cleaned up and gather some of her personal belongings to bring back to the hospital. When she got back to the hospital, she was told her father was found on the floor, crying and saying, "She's never coming home." Her grief-stricken father was assessed and found that he was dehydrated and he had a toe infection, so he was admitted to the hospital but on another floor.
The doctor and Karen Thummel arranged for my friend's father and mother to be together in the same room which made the family very happy (not to mention how happy it made my friend's parents). As my friend was leaving to go home to sleep (first time in a while) her father looked at her and told her that he was going "home." He told his daughter that he wanted to get Heaven ready for her mother. My friend looked at her dad and told him to stop talking like that, that he was going to get better with some fluids.
She left and by the time she came back to the hospital the next morning, her father passed away. She said he died of a broken heart.
Her mother, after that, stopped talking, eating, drinking. She barely acknowledged her daughter but absolutely did not acknowledge anyone else who came into the room. Every once in a while, she did utter a few words but certainly did not carry on any kind of conversation.
The family took their mother home under hospice care two days after their father passed away and within three days, her journey on Earth came to an end in the arms of her daughter.
I was told several times by my friend that her mother received excellent care while in the hospital and how grateful she was to have had such kind and gentle caregivers attending to her mother and her father.
I wanted to personally thank the physician and Karen Thummel for arranging my friend's parents to be in the same room while in the hospital and giving the best care they could possibly give. It meant a lot to the family and I'm sure it meant a lot to her father who got to spend his last moments on earth with his wife of 68 years.