Dale Saunders Covid Updates

  23 days since Dad was diagnosed with Covid 18 days since he his hospital admission 15 days since he was moved to the ICU 10 days ago, he passed   2 days ago, we celebrated his life with a funeral mass   1 day ago, Cathy, Beck and I returned home Time is playing tricks on me. It's moving much too fast and yet I slowly trod through the minutes. I know It's not just me. The whole family is adjusting to whatever this new normal is without Dad being available to call up and ask what type of paint brush to use on trim work or to share a kiddo's latest accomplishment - he always had the BEST reactions to even the most minor wins.  Speaking of new normals, the picture I've shared here is certainly missing someone pretty central, but it was taken with love and as much joy as we could muster.  Backstory sidebar: I was chatting with a dear friend the day after Dad passed, who like many just wanted to "do something!" I looked up at a mirror at that moment and I asked ...

 Friends, if you are unable to travel or would prefer to join us virtually for Dale’s funeral mass, you can join live via this link:  https://www.facebook.com/CCVideoMemorials-103225498189387 Following the live service, a recorded version will also be made available.  Thank you and peace be with you. 

  Dale Richard Saunders , 79, passed away Jan. 5, 2021, at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Fla., following a brief but intense battle with Covid-19. He was born Sept. 25, 1941, in Washington, D.C., and spent his youth in nearby Arlington, Va. He graduated from Memphis University, formerly Memphis State University, in 1966 .  Dale met the love of his life, Rita Suzanne “Sue” Dillon, when they were just teenagers in Arlington. They dated, and even after her family relocated to Massachusetts, the two maintained a long-distance relationship. They married in 1963 and settled in Memphis, Tenn., to start their life together.  Soon after, Dale and Sue returned to the Washington, D.C., area to be closer to family while raising their children, Richard (children Alexis (Jorge) and Hunter), Cathy (husband Chris Neubauer and sons Joe, Jack and Patrick), Becky (husband Marc Dykhuizen and children Amy, Luke and Sarah) and Carrie (husband Chris Monger and daughter Laura)....

  I was in Middle School the first time I swiped this sweater from Dad's closet. I say first. It was likely the only the time I swiped it. I probably just willfully apprehended it. I found it cool: retro, a throwback to a different time. Even then, I tended to swim upstream. Anyway, the sweater came with me to college, entered a marriage and has made multiple moves, always safely finding a home in my closet and a source of comfort in trying moments.  I'm currently wrapped in this sweater in Virginia as the rest of my family is waiting to see Dad.  His right lung collapsed overnight.  There is an emergency procedure we could have opted for, but the likelihood of survival was just so slim and the treatments just weren't taking hold.  So it is time to say goodbye and send Dad home. Becky took this picture yesterday. It reminds her of the Trinity.  The Father The Son The Holy Ghost

  If I thought we crammed a lot of emotion into a 30 hour window yesterday, these past 14 hours gave those a run for their money. Let me just try to outline where we've been and where we are. Maybe the words will come then, because I've struggled to get this update rolling. It's the advice I always give Laura when she's trying to solve a problem: Just start by telling me what you know. Here's what I know: Yesterday evening, I headed to bed to early (10PM), peacefully thinking about our low, but critical plateau and baby steps. Dad was still on the Bi-Pap and all vitals were strong. I prayed, just as I asked all of you to do, that his pre dawn hours would be peaceful and I was just about to settle in when... I get a call...5 alarms...Dad's oxygen crashed and we needed to decide within minutes whether to intubate and place him on a ventilator or forego additional treatment and pursue palliative care. Head spinning. Such is life with a loved one in a Covid ICU. Cat...

Here's a photo from a late season Nationals game to celebrate Dad's Birthday. Becky in the distance and Carrie forward. This post follows a 30 hour time period of emotional upheaval and therefore, will reflect as such in length and substance.  Current clinical update on Dad.  As previously established in other posts, communication with the Care Team is challenging at best. We are physically prohibited from being with Dad for obvious reasons and in those fleeting moments when we've been allowed access outside his room, there hasn't been much time for a debrief. These care teams are, quite simply, pushed to their limits trying to care for all their patients and manage the worries of countless family members who, like us are feeling detached and concerned.  So yesterday's news - preparing us for the worst, that we needed to plan to transition Dad to palliative care in short order was delivered by the nursing team and then we were met with proverbial crickets. No news. ...