[Nfbf-l] Ed Eames Dies Sunday!

[Sherri]

I knew Ed and Toni fairly well from their involvement in NFB years ago. Ed's 
loss is very sad for the blind community, but particularly, I am sure for 
Toni. He will definitely be missed and his contributions long remembered.
Sherri
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <REPCODDS at aol.com>
To: <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>; <nfbf-leaders at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 4:56 PM
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Ed Eames Dies Sunday!


> Below is an email from Toni Eames about  Ed Eames last days. Ed was
> Heavily involved  with IAADP and was in the Federation for many  years.
> Dwight
>
>
> From: Ed and Toni Eames [mailto:eeames at csufresno.edu]
> Sent:  Sunday, October 25, 2009 8:52 PM
> To: ed and toni eames
> Subject: Later  Oct. update, Ed died
>
> Oct. 25 2009 update
>
> Hi all,
>
> Ed did  not go to rehab as planned on Oct. 16.  The doctors could not
> control  his fluctuating high white count, so he stayed at St. Agnes
> until he could  build strength and endurance.  The first stroke hit on
> Oct. 9, and Ed  made slow progress during the next few days.  On
> Tuesday, the 13, he  had a sleepy day, and I was scared.  But on
> Wednesday, he rallied and  grew stronger and stronger.
>
> The first step in physical therapy was  getting Ed to sit up in a
> stretcher chair.   This is a great  device where the patient is rolled
> from bed onto a stretcher, strapped in  for safety, then gradually
> raised into a sitting position.  The  lift  Ambulation Team is made up
> of very muscular men to help with  transfers from bed to chair, and
> they were extremely nurturent guys.   Once in the stretcher chair, Ed
> could be fed his thickened diet.  He  never complained about the food
> and continually practiced the swallowing  techniques recommended by
> the speech therapist.  Actually, this  swallowing technique is good
> for those of us who eat too fast.  Each  time you swallow a bite of
> food, take time to do another swallow with an  empty mouth.  Here's
> another exercise:  hold the tip of your  tongue between your teeth,
> keep your chin down and swallow.  If you  tackle that, put your tongue
> further out between your teeth and  swallow.  These exercises were to
> enable Ed to eat regular  food.  As a food lover, Ed obsessed about
> making progress until he  could eat a hamburger and drink water and a 
> beer!
>
> When Ed was diagnosed  with diabetes several years ago, we had many
> battles about his not walking  around the house barefooted.  When he
> received a pair of fleece-lined  slippers from Eve Hoopes for the
> holidays in 2006, he diligently wore  them.  During his hospital stay,
> he obsessed about having the  slippers handy.  In his mind, they
> signified walking again.   When the LAT guys helped him sit in the
> stretcher chair and later a  regular chair, he insisted on wearing his
> slippers rather than the  hospital socks.
>
> Ed became a favorite among staff.  He always  treated them with
> courtesy, letting them know how much he appreciated  their
> assistance.  As his speech improved, he chatted with everyone  who
> came into his room.  He appreciated the many visitors and I  needed
> the distraction of phone calls and friends.
>
> On the 18th  puppy raiser Mary Flynn took Keebler and Latrell to her
> home for a run in  her yard.  Then Mary and her daughter Brenna took
> the Goldens for a  long walk.  It was a wonderful break from the dogs
> being cooped up in  the hospital room.  Earlier in the week, former
> puppy raisers Anita  and son Eric took the fur kids on a similar outing.
>
> In some ways, Ed  was charmingly child-like during this first
> week.  He greeted  everyone with joy, and practiced leg lifts as
> prescribed by the physical  therapist, arm stretches advised by the
> occupational therapist and  swallowing.  His motivation to get well
> and come home was over the  chart.  We both took joy and encouragement
> with every success, no  matter how small.
> My friend Richard Stone suggested I write down my fears,  and the list
> got pretty long.  Would Ed have significant disabilities  requiring us
> to move from our two storey town house?  With a left  side weakness,
> would he be able to work Latrell, or would Latrell need to  be trained
> on the right? With my spinal stenosis, would I have the  physical
> strength to assist Ed?  The list is a lot longer, but I  didn't allow
> myself to prepare for the worst!
>
> When I arrived with  my two precious guides on Saturday, the 17th, Ed
> was sitting in a regular  chair chatting with the nurse' aid.  After
> regaling his morning  visitors, he got tired and was put back in
> bed.  He hadn't eaten much  of his lunch and had already been given an
> insulin shot.  His sleep  was restless and it turned out he had a
> hypoglycemic episode.  After  being given sugar by the nurse, he came
> out of his fog with a almost manic  demeanor.  Dr. Heller, the
> hospitalist, told Ed rehab was scheduled  for Monday.  Ed was ecstatic
> and chatted nonstop to the doctor,  praising St. Agnes' open
> acceptance of our guide dogs, puppy raisers and  therapy dogs.  He
> captured the doctor's interest with reminiscences  of hospital access
> denials satisfactorily solved through the intervention  of
> IAADP.  Ed's speech was clear and his cognition perfect.  He  was so
> wound up, he didn't leave room for anyone else to speak.  When  friend
> and reader Stephanie Stanley tried to read e-mails to Ed, he kept
> interrupting with stories and comments.  When I left him, I finally
> let myself get truly hopeful that things would work out!
>
> Sunday  morning, the phone rang and I thought it was Ed calling with
> the  assistance of the nurse' aid.  He had done that for the past few
> days.  Having left on such a high, I was not prepared for the news Ed
> was now in a coma.  The staff found him in this condition when they
> were scheduled to turn him.  My life, my hopes, my dreams and my
> partnership were destroyed in a flash.
>
> Extensive tests, CT scans  and EEGs showed significant swelling of the
> brain and a second, more  extensive stroke was suspected.  When I was
> told, Ed would be  nonfunctioning if he came out of the coma, I made
> the awful decision to  discontinue all treatments.  If he survived, he
> would have no  recognition his left side existed, making walking
> impossible.  He  would have no speech and be fed through a feeding
> tube.  He would  live the rest of his life in a nursing home.  Ed and
> I had health  directives, and this was not a life Ed would have wanted.
>
> For four  days, phenomenal friends kept vigil with me hoping
> circumstances would  change.  I always thought comas were quiet, but
> Ed thrashed and  moaned and the hours I spent with him were
> torture.  I talked to him,  touched him and cried with each
> nonresponsive moment.  Latrell put  paws on the bed, frantically
> licked Ed's hand and wagged his Golden joy in  seeing his partner
> again.  No miracles happened and Ed was  transported by ambulance to
> the Nancy Hinds Hospice home on Thursday, the  22nd.
>
> Ed was so respected and like by the St. Agnes staff that many  nurses
> and aids cried with me when they realized his goal of rehab and  home
> were not to be.  He was always so engaging and gave thanks for  each
> bath, feeding, transfer, antibiotic infusion, taking of vital signs,
> cleaning him up, and whatever other intervention was needed.  One aid
> said she looked forward to coming to work knowing her day would be
> filled with assisting Ed and being welcomed by his big smile.
> It was  torture bringing home the suitcase I packed in readiness for
> transfer to  the rehab center.  Bringing those slippers home knowing
> Ed would  never wear them again was the hardest thing.  How do I
> reconstruct my  life without Ed?  How do I become half of a  team?
>
> At first I  thought about bringing Ed home with home-based hospice
> care, but since he  would not know he was home and managing a crew of
> strangers in my house  with the dogs and cats, seemed illogical.  The
> Nancy Hinds Home takes  six patients at a time in a home-like
> residence.  Registered nurses  are working around the clock and pain
> management is overseen by  doctors.
>
> When Linda Haymond drove me to the home, I noted there were no
> sidewalks, and commented Ed would not be happy, if only he knew.  The
> installation of sidewalks in new developments and throughout Fresno
> was a big advocacy goal for Ed  He is being given large doses of
> morphine and adavan to quiet his bodily agitation.  The home is pet
> friendly, so Latrell and Keebler are most welcome.  I was invited to
> let the dogs romp in the huge fenced yard.  Little angelic-looking
> Keebler took advantage of the opportunity to dive into a small
> fountain and spread mud all over her coat!  A good toweling off made
> her presentable for lunch in an Indian restaurant.
>
> As a young  anthropologist, Ed spent three years doing research in
> India, fortunately  long before I met him.  He loves Indian food and
> has taught me to  love it, too.  It was the beginning of many
> experiences and meals I  will no longer be sharing with him.
>
> Linda Haymond, Janet Moore, Beth  Shea  and Paul Kwiatkowski have held
> me up throughout this ordeal  with their almost every day visits and
> vigils.  Dozens of other  friends and relatives have visited, phoned,
> sent cards and e-mailed.   Debbie Prieto has spent several nights with
> me and comes in the morning  after her walk to share breakfast with
> me.  One positive of this  tragedy is that I have lost my appetite and
> have lost 10  pounds.
>
> Thankfully, the hospice has been able to calm Ed's agitation  and it
> is just a matter of waiting for his body to give up and end the
> journey.  The crazy thing is that his heart is strong, but his brain
> is gone!  Some people believe coma patients can hear, so we all talk
> to him and tell him he can let go.
>
> My beloved husband and partner  slipped into a quiet death on the
> morning of Oct. 25.  To continue  his giving back to society, his body
> was donated to Western University  Medical School in Pomona, CA.
>
> I plan to keep Latrell.  He is my  connection to Ed.  When Ed's dog
> Echo retired, Eleanor Marugo made a  lovely vest reading retired guide
> dog.  We took Echo to meetings and  restaurants.  When I travel again,
> my friend Sheila Cary has offered  to take Latrell and bring him to
> work, so he isn't alone during the  day.  Keebler is very attached to
> Latrell and would be very lonely  without him.  He is eight and too
> old to retrain with another  handler.  I love this goofy canine and
> don't anticipate a problem  keeping him.
>
> I hope you will honor Ed's life and works by supporting  the
> organizations he most loved.  Donations to IAADP can be made at
> www.iaadp.org or phoning Newsreel for a credit card donation at
> 614-469-0700.  Checks to these organizations can also be sent to me
> at 3376 North Wishon, Fresno, CA 93704.
>
> A memorial service will be  held in early December.  I will feature
> the many plaques honoring his  achievements.  I also want to assemble
> a book of e-mail  remembrances.  Please write your special thoughts,
> fun stories and  comments about what Ed has personally meant to you
> and to the greater  community.  Please put memories of Ed in the
> subject line and send it  to me at eeames at csufresno.edu.
>
> I cannot emphasize enough how important  you all were in supporting me
> through this tragedy.  It kept me going  and I'll need much more in
> the months to come.  Thanks for your love,  your prayers and your many
> hours of hand-holding and hugs in the hospital  and hospice home.
>
> Toni and  Furries
>
>
>
>
>
>
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