Our family would like to recognize Lindsay Divins. D suffered from IPF (Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis). For five years he had been taking medications and seeing doctors concerning his condition. For five years his condition of about 50% lung function had been stabilized but we had always been warned that IPF could plummet at any time. For most of 2018 D's condition was causing him weakness and one day it became clear his lungs were weaker and had affected his heart function too. After a week of tests and a code blue, D underwent a test to further identify his concerns. During this test, D had respiratory arrest which influenced his heart into cardiac arrest. For the third time that week, he was put back in the ICU. We had become acquainted with many of the nurses and staff on the second floor ICU of Boone Hospital, Columbia, MO. They became acquainted with our family as we did with them, thus, we all became a bigger family.
On Friday, our 44th wedding anniversary, D did not recover from this respiratory and cardiac arrests and was put on life support for three days to see if any of his vitals would improve. The ECMO machine became his life support for three days. Specialized nurses were brought in to care for and evaluate D's condition. All of the nurses for those three days were extremely competent and caring. A special nurse, though, was especially compassionate with the members of our family, wife, three sons, three grandchildren, his mother, and four siblings. She is surely a very competent nurse who understands a family's needs and concerns during special times.
We watched Lindsay as she cared for D, being very professional and kind in her procedures. It seemed that she treated D as one of God's very fragile and important souls. She was kind to D. As each one of us visited D's room she was always willing to update us on his condition and explain the function of all the procedures he was enduring, from medications for his fever to baths and massages for comfort. D was treated like a special human being. Lindsay's demeanor was always straight forward and heartfelt. Her eyes always met ours and when she talked- it was like her heart was always the first to speak. She was especially kind to the grandchildren, ages one, four and ten. She found a way to explain "Papa's condition" to them that they could understand.
She was seeing them through her loving eyes and compassionate heart too. She was not only caring for D's needs but took one step further and cared for the needs of his family. As we had ups and downs those three days, Lindsay seemed to know our needs and steered us to better understandings of D's condition and gently guided us to accept the final breaths of D's earthly life. As time has passed since D's passing, there is hardly a day that goes by that memories of that week are not in our minds. Although those memories are often sad, the memories of the nurses, and especially Lindsay, are good, warm and heartfelt. She will always be a positive part of our family. She has such a gift to mankind and is utilizing it to the fullest. She is surely an angel working through God.