Personal email to Patrick Tombeau 05 NOV 2020
Pat,
I promised to send you some information about the passing of my brother Terry.
Terry suffered an unexpected cardiac event on September 7, 2017. He was hospitalized in Fullerton where on the morning of the 8th he underwent a very extensive emergency surgery. Following the surgery, they were unable to get his heart functioning well enough to sustain life on its own. He was transferred to USC’s Keck Medical center with the hope that their special capabilities to sustain patients in such conditions would allow his heart enough time to heal and take back over. As the days went by, the likelihood of him recovering diminished as multiple organ failure set in. Terry passed away on September 24, 2017 at USC’s Keck Medical Center. His body was cremated and his ashes were distributed in beautiful Morro Bay in June of 2018.
The following is an excerpt from my journal entry for that day in the CaringBridge.com.
Bruce
Terry passed away this afternoon
Journal Entry by Bruce Stephens — September 24, 2017
Last night Terry's health took a turn for the worse. His blood pressure wasn't staying up so they were forced to increase the meds used to keep it up. His blood chemistry has since become too acid and was causing multiple organ failure. His extremities also been dying over the last few days and looked much worse today. Things were looking very bad and there was no signs of progress.
Based on Terry's well described desires of what condition he would want live under and the doctor's advice, we decided to suspend the life support systems while keeping the pain medications strong.
We said some prayers privately and then had the hospital chaplain join us for some more prayers.
Once, the life support was removed, he passed away very quickly. It was like Terry was totally ready to go take his place with God.
I am thankful that my daughter Sarah and Terry's friend Elvira were here so that we could all support each other. I am also grateful for the network of friends and family here on this site that have been praying for him throughout the time.
The entire staff here at USC's Keck Hospital have been wonderfully professional and caring during his entire time here and he could not have asked for better.
