Dad's Progress 2006

By now a lot of people are wondering what the heck is going on. Here's the story:

Mom went on a very rare trip (rare for the last few years) out to Denver to visit Laura and her family and attend Grandparents Day events at the kids' school. I was home with my family recovering from the Redskins latest loss and my alma mater, Good Counsel High School's third consecutive championship game loss to DeMatha Catholic in the city championship. The phone rang at 7:28pm and it was a call from Mom in Denver. She was crying and simply said, "We lost Dad." Her voice was filled with sadness, shock, surprise, and I think a bit of relief. Just hours earlier at a neighborhood birthday party my wife and I were asked about Dad and I said that he was "about the same, not much going on." I also felt compelled to say that he might end up living in that place and in this way for 20-25 years. That's a reality we all thought of from time to time. When Mom gave me the news I didn't know what to think. I ran down the hall to get away from the kids so I could speak to Mom and in those few steps I think my entire memory bank of my Dad went through my mind at warp speed. I told my Mom that Mona and I would head up to the National Lutheran Home to see Dad. We had to get a babysitter and gather ourselves and headed up to see Dad within the hour.

When we got there about 8:50pm we were greeted by one of the staff who immediately gave me a hug and said how sorry she was. Then I got to spend a few final moments with Dad. The experience was unbelievable and still is as I type here now.

Dad died just 1 hour and 50 minutes earlier at approximately 7:00pm. He finished only about 30% of his dinner that night and was just hanging out in the hallway as he always did in his later days at the home. He used to wheel himself around and have simple 5-10 word chats with some of the others. He would smile at the staff at their station. But in the last 5-6 months of his life Dad mainly sat in his wheelchair outside his room and stared, slept, thought about the good times, thought about nothing, who knows. Anyway, one of the staff noticed Dad was not looking too good and they decided to check him out. They decided to move him back into his bed where the seriousness of the situation quickly escalated. They were losing him. His pulse weakened and his responses were fewer and fewer. They made attempts to revive him but to no avail. Dad was gone. Chaplain Tom phoned my Mom in Denver to give her the news.

I'm being a bit dramatic here but it's just the most amazing and unpredictable ending to this 2 year, 176 day ordeal. We believe that God in his mercy decided that Dad had been though enough and called him to heaven. Who am I to guess how God operates but you understand.

I went to the house on Monday to begin gathering some documents together. Most important was Dad's military record and his Honorable Discharge from the US Marine Corps on 18 July 1968. Dad wanted to be cremated and end up at Arlington so we knew we had to get that stuff together. On Tuesday I cleaned out Dad's room at the National Lutheran Home. Early on after his injury I dreamed of one day cleaning his room and he and I walking (albeit slowly) to the car as he returned home.

Mom flew home late last night and I picked her up at Dulles about midnight. We went to the house in Rockville where Linda was after arriving from OH a few hours earlier. We stayed up until 4am looking at the hundreds of pictures and videos I have of Dad's last 2 1/2 years in recovery. We were amazed to see how far Dad had actually come back to us before ultimately withdrawing and passing away.

Today we began making all the arrangements. The memorial service for our Dad will take place at St. Mary's Church in Rockville, MD on 30 November 2006 at 10:30am.

(21 November Update: More info coming in this space very soon. We are working on the details now. Mom was away in Denver when Dad died and returns late tonight.)

Dad passed away suddenly this evening at approximately 7:00pm. We're deeply saddened but know that Dad is finally at peace. His shoulder is fine, his knees are fine, his hearing is perfect and his brain is perfect. We miss you and love you very much Dad.

I'll post more details here as soon as possible. Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. This is a tough time obviously but as you can imagine there is relief that Dad is in paradise. This world lost a great man today.

Happy belated 4th of July! May 27 marked 2 years since Dad had his fall. It is hard to believe how time flies. I hope time is flying for Dad, or at least not crawling along. It's been hard for me to get up and see Dad as much as I used to but I get there when I can. We're looking forward to having him home in a few weeks as you'll read in Mom's update here:

Friends and Family-

The Lampe Clan has been busy and traveling lately. Our priorities have been a trip to Denver and Laura's wedding. Don't miss the beautiful photos on our website.

Andy would be the first to acknowledge this was a priority. Though he could not be there, he was often in our conversation and thoughts. It was good to know that he could "survive" our absence. We continue to be grateful for the staff at National Lutheran Home who provide quality loving care (and a couple loads of laundry when we're away!!!).

Andy's condition has not changed in recent weeks. He did get a new "bionic wheelchair". The back and seat both recline, so that the pressure is taken off his lower back and results in fewer complaints from the guy! It's easy and smooth pushing him around the facility and campus. It rides likes it's on a Cadillac chassis (and based on the bill sent to the insurance company that may well be the case!). The problem is access and stability when in the Taxi-van that brings him home for visits. We still require a regular wheelchair. We'll give it a try in a couple of weeks.

Our visits at the nursing home are at dinner time. He gets his tray while we watch CNN and I try to explain what's going on in the world, without getting involved with the roller coaster stock market! His neurological problems sometimes prove difficult when he lifts a soup spoon to his mouth, but the orphan kid independence creeps through when I try to help!!!! HE CAN DO IT!!!!!!

We'll let you know how the next trip home works out ------- and I speak for Andy, as well as the family, when we say THANKS for keeping in touch and caring about our journey through this experience that we encounter each day.

Andy has been "up and down" since the first of the year. It became increasingly more difficult to keep him in the wheelchair. He kept complaining of back pain and scooting down in the chair. When he came home in January he managed to get to the floor (always a smile on his face, of course) and it required the help of two neighbors, along with Jim and I to get him back up. They have tried a couple of different chairs with the same result. We are now working on a tilt chair which has a reclining back and seat. It's in process, but it takes forever!

He also became more agitated with the staff (still the smile on his face). They tried different meds to treat the back pain and the mental status. Two weeks ago the chaplain called on a Friday afternoon to say they were sending him to the ER at the local hospital because he was combative and bonked a poor CNA on the head. She also made a trip to ER, but appeared to be okay and was sent home. Andy arrived by ambulance about 5 pm and the tests began. Lab work, CT scans of head and right hip, which the doctor thought might be dislocated. Around 8 pm the doc decided he should be admitted to the psychiatric facility for evaluation. It is affiliated with the hospital, but in another building. There were no available beds. They found a private sitter to stay with him, still in the ER (along with an egg salad sandwich and some cookies). I came home at 1 AM. He was transferred to the psych hospital at 2 AM. Don't ask how a bed opens up at that hour of the morning!!!!

Visiting hours there are a strict 6 PM to 8 PM. As I parked my car for my evening visit, I noticed an ambulance drive to the entrance. (No way, I said, could this be for Andy Lampe!) Out the door came two EMT's with our guy on the gurney. Back to the ER at the first hospital we go. The psych people thought he was acting "strange". Another round of lab work and x-rays. Another egg salad sandwich and some cookies. At 8 PM they admitted him to a medical ward where he remained until the following Wednesday. Some new meds were prescribed. He got back to the nursing home around 8 PM (I didn't go because no one was sure what time the transfer would take place). At 9 PM I called the nursing home to check on him and was told he was so agitated they couldn't get close enough for an assessment. My trip there took a short time. By then he looked very comfortable and was sound asleep!!

So tomorrow I'll park my car and one more time "take the hill" to the National Lutheran Home entrance. (Some of the residents who ambulate with walkers refer to it as HEARTBREAK HILL). I'll make my way through the lobby, see lots of smiling faces that have become friends, take the elevator to the third floor, and find out what kind of day Andy Lampe is having!!!!!

We had a great time with Dad celebrating his 73rd birthday. His birthday was 12 January and we brought him home to celebrate with Mom and my family on 15 January.

Dad has been doing a lot of smiling lately. He's been smiling a lot for the past month-and-a-half or so. Those days of him being nasty and angry are a distant memory. When I said, "happy birthday" to him he clearly said, "happy birthday" back to me. Those words constituted the clearest speech I've heard from Dad since his fall. Who knows, the healing continues we pray.

Other than that Dad is about the same. We're going to be getting him a new wheelchair because he's a little uncomfortable in this one.

I finally started this third news/updates page and with it a new third photo/video page. You can still access the archives here: Dad's new main menu page.

New pictures and video added here to the new multimedia page: Dad's photos/videos.