Dad's Memorial

[Black Irish]

1st draft, obit:

Morris E. Teal Jr. went to be with his Lord and Savior at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Sunday Feb. 3, 2019, after complications from Cancer treatment for metastasized melanoma. He was 87. He lived in relatively good physical condition until his Cancer diagnosis a few months ago. Morris was born April 21, 1931 in Peoria, IL, but also lived in Florida, Texas, and several cities in Illinois including Pontiac (high school), DeKalb (college), Freeport (early career) and West Chicago, where he lived with his family since 1969. He met his wife, Betty Jo Garen, when he was an airman hitchhiking back to his base in Orlando, Florida. They married in 1954 and remained happily so for 59 years. Morris or "Morrie" was a loving husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, and friend to many. He was a sweet-natured person who cared about what was going on in society, and was always ready to listen to others; he was well-loved by many. Besides his family and friends, Morris loved dancing, being an active member of his church, and all types of sports, both as a player and as a fan. His favorite teams were the Illini and NIU Huskies, followed by the major Chicago teams. He also loved to travel with his wife, realizing a lifelong dream to visit every state in the U.S. and most of Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Morris had a brief stint in minor league baseball, followed by several years in the U.S. Air Force as a jet mechanic during the Korean War. Upon leaving the Air Force, Morris took his young family to DeKalb, Illinois to attend Northern Illinois University, where he earned his bachelor and masters degrees in teaching and counseling. His 32-year career included elementary teaching in Freeport, IL, assistant principal and counselor at Bower Jr. High in Warrenville, and physical education at Lowell and Hawthorne elementary schools in Wheaton, IL. Morris is survived by four children, Debbie (Jeff) Hiltner of Winfield, Cindy (Paul) Nelson of Elk Grove, Mike (Rocio) Teal of Hinsdale, and Jeff (Anju) Teal of Barrington; 10 grandchildren; a great granddaughter; and a brother, Ronald (Petra) Teal of Oak Park, IL. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty; sister Nadine Knutsen of Beloit, WI; brother Charles of Pontiac, IL, and parents Gyneth and Morris Teal of Beloit, WI. A memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church in West Chicago on Saturday, March 2. Visitation with light refreshments will be from 11:30 a.m. until the time of memorial service at 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to First United Methodist Church of West Chicago.
--
Jeff Teal
JeffTeal@gmail.com

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All

I love Dad but $572 for this little blurb is ridiculous IMO. Can I try the Press instead?

Love

Jeff

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Debbie:

they charge $7.95 for each extra line, and the lines are pretty short. A photo counts as 5 or 6 lines (I'll pay for that). We can probably cut out a few things. Right off the bat I'd say the extra "he was loved by many", "he was in relatively good health until his diagnosis", and probably not necessary to say all the places he lived and visited. We need to say who he married and when, how long, where he went to school, where he worked, who he's survived by, memorial information. We can probably consolidate personal info into one or two sentences.

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Hi Jeff, I will wait to hear back from you with your revisions and photo. There is no discount for obituaries but I can forward any information to editorial for consideration of a news story, which would run at their discretion. The price for half the length (as it is right now) with a photo would be approximately $380.00 or so. Also, my recommendation would be to run this coming Sunday, 2/24, there is no difference is price from weekdays and it is our biggest readership.

Thank you,
Bonnie

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[Black Irish]

Dad shouldn't take the hydrocoroside (?) because that is a medicine to lower his blood pressure and it's already low enough. Unless you take his blood pressure and it's back up to normal, then he could take it because it also acts as a diuretic and might help with the water bloat in his legs.

posted by Debbie

[Black Irish]

talked to nurse at Dr. Scruggs' office. She said Dad needs to eat PROTEIN. It will pull water back into his body and help with not only his weight, but also his low blood pressure and his "weeping legs". She also said Ritalin is an appetite stimulator he could possibly take in pill form (more pills - ugh!)

[Wellesnet]

Received call from Cynthia from Residential in Downers Grove regarding home visits for Dad.

Two different departments of Resiential, both recommended by Dr. Chin:

1. Home Health (scheduled to meet with Dad on Thursday) which is like a general home check up.

2. Palliative Care, which is more advanced and specializes in pain symptoms. They have the ability to administer or perscribe drugs.

Cynthia is from Palliative, and I informed her that Dad's problem is not so much pain, but exhaustion and loss of appetite. She said for us to call her if Dad's pain situation becomes worse. Her number is 630/219-1722

posted by Mike

[Black Irish]

dr. scruggs' office never got back to me. Will try again tomorrow. Need to ask them about the hydrochlorithiazide (?) and the diarrhea. Anything else?

[Black Irish]

Thanks to all for everything you are doing, including this message board.

Jeff

[Black Irish]

What time is the visit from the home health care? Thurs correct?. Who will be with Dad when the person comes?. Others can view and hear everything via the camera if we know what time. Please sit in Kitchen for the visit. Medicare should be covering this visit. Also, according to my research on Medicare and long-term care (dad has both), Medicare should pay for the home care aide for dad as long as his doc approves it. After 60 days Long term care insurance should pay for it.
Posted by Anju

[Wellesnet]

I thought the visit was around noon, will double check.

Dad is still very weak, sleeps mostly. Had two more diarrhea accidents this morning, less messy then yesterday. After the second one I told him to try the Depends pullups. They worked very well for the third accident; there was no excrement on his pajamas, only the pullup. He has taken several anti-diarhea pills.

He is still not eating much, and feels nauseous. He is also taking anti-nausea pill Ondansetron, prescribed by Dr. Scruggs.

He still has pain on butt, bad sores near the anus. This makes it hard for him to sit for long. Used hemp cream this morning for it.

To get protein in him, I bought a steak sandwich from Subway. Will blend it with Tomato soup this afternoon in the blender. Worth a try. He can get small amounts of liquids down.

Mike

[Wellesnet]

In answer to Anju's question, Debbie says Home Health will call tonight and tell us what time they are coming tomorrow.

Mike

[Black Irish]

talked to Dr. Chin's nurse about home health care, there is a service that is free that is for non-medical services like cleaning, helping him in the shower and the toilet, helping him get dressed, etc. Someone is going to call me.

[Black Irish]

Talked to Dr. Scruggs. He is very worried about Dad and wants him to go to the ER and get treatment, especially for his low blood pressure. He said Dad should go to a nursing home for post-acute care. Round-the-clock care, which we can't give him. He said Medicare would pay for it for a few weeks. Longer than that we'd have to pay, but hopefully he wouldn't need that long. Dr. Scruggs is very worried about infection and Dad's multiple issues. Mike and I would like for Dad to see Dr. Richards first. Mike said Dad really hasn't gotten "worse", he's just still feeling bad. Dad needs to refrain from sitting on the pressure sores. Preferably standing and walking, but that's hard with his feet and legs swollen the way they are. He said there is fluid outside of Dad's blood vessels and that is not good.

Dad needs to keep his legs elevated. Compression stockings might help.

Debbie

[Black Irish]

Hasn't Dad been having those multiple issues and low blood pressure when he saw Dr. Scruggs? Did Dr. Scruggs express concern then?

I will take Dad's blood pressure and notify him of Dr. Scruggs' recommendation when he wakes up. Did Dr. Scruggs recommend the compression stockings?

Mike

[Black Irish]

not really, his biggest concern was that Dad EAT, especially protein.

[Black Irish]

No, Dr. Scruggs didn't say anything about compression stockings, just bedrest and elevation. I saw the bit about compression stockings while searching for "do it yourself" tips on decreasing edema

[Black Irish]

Morris E. Teal Jr. went to be with his Lord and Savior at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, Sunday Feb. 3, 2019, after complications from Cancer treatment for metastasized melanoma. He was 87. Morris was born April 21, 1931 in Peoria, IL, but also lived in Florida, Texas, and several cities in Illinois including Pontiac (high school), DeKalb (college), Freeport (early career) and West Chicago, where he lived with his family since 1969. He met his wife, Betty Jo Garen, when he was an airman hitchhiking back to his base in Orlando, Florida. They married in 1954 and remained happily so for 59 years. Morris or "Morrie" was a loving husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, and friend to many. Besides his family and friends, Morris loved dancing, being an active member of his church, and all types of sports, both as a player and as a fan. He had a brief stint in minor league baseball, followed by several years in the U.S. Air Force as a jet mechanic during the Korean War. His 32-year teaching career included elementary teaching in Freeport, IL, assistant principal and counselor at Bower Jr. High in Warrenville, and physical education at Lowell and Hawthorne elementary schools in Wheaton, IL. Morris is survived by four children, Debbie (Jeff) Hiltner of Winfield, Cindy (Paul) Nelson of Elk Grove, Mike (Rocio) Teal of Hinsdale, and Jeff (Anju) Teal of Barrington; 10 grandchildren; a great granddaughter; and a brother, Ronald (Petra) Teal of Oak Park, IL. He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty; sister Nadine Knutsen of Beloit, WI; brother Charles of Pontiac, IL, and parents Gyneth and Morris Teal of Beloit, WI. A memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church in West Chicago on Saturday, March 2. Visitation with light refreshments will be from 11:30 a.m. until the time of memorial service at 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to First United Methodist Church of West Chicago.