update: my late friend, Catherine

Monday 8 Feb
Dear Students,
Thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts.  I have bad news to share:

Catherine did not survive lung transplant surgery last Thursday.  There will be a visitation for her Wednesday night and a funeral Mass Thursday morning. It is dreadfully sad.  Here's her obituary:
http://www.rohdefuneral.com/home/index.cfm/obituaries/view/fh_id/12403/id/3593251  You could ask me about it in class, but I'll probably cry...

(Because I'll go to the visitation on Wednesday, I won't be able to go to the religious liberty lecture that night.  You are still encouraged to go for extra credit -- I'll ask my colleagues for a simple question for you to answer to earn your +2 points.)

Be well,
Dr. Cate



Did I say at the beginning of the term that we just never know when dying or death will appear in our lives?  I have a story to share with you here because I wouldn't be able to talk about it in class without freaking you out with tears.

My college pal, Catherine, has cystic fibrosis (CF).  I didn't actually know this until recently.  She's not my closest college friend, but I do keep up with her on Facebook and see her around town at events like the Opening Day Parade or theater performances.  She lives in Cincinnati with her husband, Mike, and their two kids.  They are sweet, happy, generous, beautiful people.  Catherine has be going into the hospital more and more frequently over the last 18 months for breathing treatments.  This summer I saw her at a 4th of July parade she was wearing oxygen.

Last week she went back into the hospital and has, more or less, been unconscious since about Thursday.  I think that some of that is deliberate because she can't waste what oxygen is getting to her system.  On Friday she was moved to Duke University hospital, where she was put on an ECMO machine.  Here's an explanation about ECMO (although it is written for parents of sick children): http://www.gosh.nhs.uk/medical-information-0/procedures-and-treatments/extracorporeal-membrane-oxygenation-ecmo

Catherine is waiting for a lung transplant.  This morning's (Wednesday's) news is that donor lungs are now available, and that they are not high risk lungs, which they had agreed to take in case that was the only option.  This is great news.  It has been a very long weekend for Catherine, her family and friends.  I think we've all been very scared that donor lungs won't become available, or that if they do, the surgery won't work, or she won't recover, or ....  The other good news is that there are very many people who are pulling for her and are willing to help with whatever is needed (e.g., bringing food to her kids, who are being watched by her sister).  There are a lot of people who are supporting her husband, even if it is just through Facebook messages.  Like this huge parade of people are cheering them on, remaining hopeful, working behind the scenes to keep life as normal as possible for the kids.

She is definitely still alive, even if she's unconscious.  Her lungs are so fragile that it might be hard to remove them.  She seems to be in this in-between spot, anchored by all the love of her family and friends, but working against biology.  Clearly, she could die, but I think she also has a very good chance of making it through the surgery and continuing her life.  Maybe not as actively, but maybe better, after all better breathing must make for better quality of life, right?!  (Those details are not available to me -- I'm not that close to her family and it would be inappropriate to ask).

I wanted to say to you that you should try to live your life like Catherine, so that if you have an emergency, people will stand in line to accompany you on your journey, wherever that goes.  Now that I've told you, you'll know what is going on if I get choked up in class.  If you are so inclined, I'm sure Catherine would appreciate your prayers.  Hopefully we'll have news today that the surgery was successful.

Dr. Cate