Irish passed away on Monday, June 3, 2024.

A tribute to Irish can be viewed here.

It has been a while since we last connected so I am passing along an update on Irish’s recent happenings. The information below was prepared by Theresa Kastner Oatman who some of you have met. Theresa was my secretary when I worked at Blue Shield (quite some time ago). Theresa’s father passed away a year after she started to work for me in 1995. Her mother decided to sell their home in WA and move to Florida.

Irish & I adopted Theresa as her surrogate parents and still stay in close touch. I was honored to walk her down the aisle when she married Shane Oatman 10 years ago. Theresa & Shane moved to Los Vegas a couple years, yet fly’s back frequently to be here with Irish & I along with our sons Roger & Todd. After 5 years of my assisting Irish as her full time care giver.

One of the many side affects Irish had was imbalance & frequently falling down. In December of 2022 Irish was brought to the emergency room again for another fall. The ER doctor along with Irish’s Neurologist concluded it was time to place Irish into a 24x7 assisted living & memory care residence for seniors. Despite my being overwhelmed and constantly fatigued this past 3-4 years, it was a struggle for me to let Irish go. After searching a number of options, I found an Adult Family Home with capacity for 6 clients. I was very impressed with the owner who had great compassion for disabled senior living needs, and I was also very impressed observing the kindness and well trained care givers who connected with Irish right away.

Irish’s LBD continues to advance, and I have tried to keep our 19 family’s updated which includes: 2 sons (Roger & Todd with their kids) plus Irish’s 2 brothers (Mike & Kevin Ireland plus spouses + kids & grandkids) along with my 2 sisters (Nancy Jo plus Ann & spouse Knute & their kids & grandkids). Here is some background information that started on Sept 20th when Irish was taken by ambulance at 8:00 am due to her temperature at 102 degrees F plus unable to swallow. After Irish was in the ER for 12 hours undertaking lots of tests. At 8:00 pm Irish was then moved into a very lovely critical care unit for 7 days before it was safe to be discharged. It was finally determined Irish had “aspirated pneumonia” & dehydrated.

This is my busy time of the year getting recertified for 2024 with Medicare and the insurance companies I represent. The Open Enrollment Period for Medicare is Oct 15th thru Dec 7th and the under age 65 Individual/family plans have their open Enrollment Period from Nov. 1st through Dec. 15th, so Theresa came to my rescue again by pulling together this update (below), and so I am sharing the information below for our long time Bitburg family….hugs to you all!

On Sept 25th, 2023, the day before Irish’s hospital discharge, Dr. Uchiyama (who was Irish's Internal Medicine Hospitalist) explained the benefits of Hospice and met with Ioana (who owns All About Seniors) Cam, Roger, Todd & Theresa. Following the discussions, it was concluded the best support for Irish at this time was to apply for Hospice.

It is not uncommon for people to believe the word Hospice means the patient will pass away soon. Not knowing how the word “Hospice” is imbedded in Irish’s brain, and could upset Irish, we are requesting the word “Hospice” be replaced with the words "Medical Care" or Medical Care Team.

On Friday, Oct. 6th, 2023, Cam met with a Hospice Care Team RN who reviewed Irish’s past health history and focused on Irish’s LBD advancements as well as Irish’s recent seven-day hospitalization due to Aspirating Pneumonia. The RN also conducted an evaluation of Irish and collected Irish’s medical records. All of this information was then provided to a team of physicians for review. The doctors concluded Irish qualifies for Hospice. It was approved by Medicare, and Cam was notified on Oct. 10th. The next day, Cam met with another Hospice RN to go over the team that will be dedicated to Irish including an RN, MSW, and Chaplain.

The Medical Care Team for Irish focuses on her quality-of-life through patient-centered care. The following are the Medical Care Team:

• A dedicated nurse by the name of Matt Stocker, RN, will begin visiting Irish this Friday, and then one or more times each following week.
• Irish's primary care provider will remain Dr. Fallan Nirschl.
• A dedicated counselor, by the name of Brandi Francisco (MSW), is available to provide emotional support and also provide any resources we may need.
• A Chaplain by the name of Mary Romer.

Attached is an excellent document about Hospice Care you may find helpful. It does a nice job responding to three common questions:

1. What is Hospice Care?
2. How does Hospice Work
3. Myths & Facts

In an effort to help Irish keep perked up with her smiles and not feeling abandoned in her Adult Family Home, Nancy Jo, Cresta & Cam schedule different days of each week to visit with Irish. When not traveling or residing outside of WA, Roger, Todd & Theresa have made many visits with Irish. Cousin Karen & Dennis have driven from their home north of Arlington to visit Irish a number of times, and also hosted Irish & Cam overnight numerous times at their ranch house with their 3 horses, mule, 3 dogs, cat and one bird.
Thank you all for your big loving hearts leading your visits with Irish. These past few weeks, Kevin & April and Mike, & Cindy visited Irish as well.
How wonderful it was when Irish recognized them with her big smile, hugs & kisses.

Again, if we can refrain from using the word Hospice with Irish that would be best.

October is Lewy Body Awareness Month - here's a link to a great organization, Lewy Body Dementia Association:
https://www.lbda.org/

Please keep Irish and Cam in your thoughts & prayers.

Much love,
Theresa

Medical Care for Irish