Juan Conde Pena’s Life 7

Juan Conde Pena’s Life 7

Presentado por; Iris de La Rosa Vélez, 2014

 

 

 

Manufactured homes were not for us

After checking in the manufactured homes’ office, we found out that we had to pay approximately $700.00 maintenance fee a month to live there in addition to the purchase price. Therefore, we concluded that if we made a loan to buy the house we would not have enough to pay for the maintenance fee. For this reason, we discarded that idea and moved with a lady who wanted us to take care of her houses while she was away in Europe. At the beginning we enjoyed our stay there because we had an entire house for ourselves. It was very comfortable and was located in a good neighborhood. Additionally, I had the opportunity to water her plants, plant some fruit trees and mow the lawn. I didn’t mind doing this because I needed something to do. My wife was also enjoying cleaning the house and arranging the furniture around. The only negative thing about the area was that it was located further away from the church we attended.

After staying in Florida for two years, we returned to Virginia. We did not drive this time but took the train instead. The train took fourteen and a half-hours to get to Lorton, VA. It was a very long trip and we traveled during the afternoon and arrived in Virginia at nine o’clock in the morning the following day. We gave away all our furniture and only brought with us our clothes, my computer, some office supplies, some sheets, some towels, and a new set of dinnerware. Our daughter Adela, offered us a room in her apartment, and we were very grateful to her.

We stayed at Adela’s apartment until September of 2006.at that time my wife contracted pneumonia and was hospitalized in the Reston Hospital. Her conditioned worsened and we had to have her transferred to the Fairfax Hospital. After doing a catheterization the doctors discovered that she had three obstrusions in her arteries. Therefore, they planned to wait until she was well enough to do an open heart surgery. But while waiting to be operated, her condition worsened. She suffered two strokes therefore they could not perform the operation.

At this hospital the doctors ordered many tests which showed her deplorable condition. Luckily, she was hospitalized in a private room and I was able to stay with her. In those days, I only managed to go home once or twice a week. Once she was stabilized, we had her transferred to a nursing home in Berryville, Va. Berryville was about an hour away from where I lived. I used to go there every day but I was not allowed to stay overnight. In this facility she stayed for ten months.

It was very difficult for me to watch her health deteriorate. I went there from eight in the mornings and stayed until seven in the evenings. I traveled daily from Sterling, VA to Berryville. It took approximately one hour to get there. During the winter months the driving conditions in the roads were so bad that sometimes. I had to stay in a hotel. Some of the beds were so old that they needed books under their legs to level them. The TV was also old and one could only change the channels manually.

In that nursing home my wife suffered various infections and pneumonia. I noticed that some nurses were not familiar with the mechanics of tube feeding. I saw many abnormalities during that period. One of them was very serious. My wife was affected with a bacterium called CDiff’s. Since it was a recurring infection, the nurses informed me that she would always have that bacterium because it was associated with tube feeding. For this reason, I tried desperately to have her swallowing again. Therefore, I took her to a clinic in Westchester, V.A. for treatment. In this facility she had two sets of fifteen treatments, but they did not help. I was always trying everything possible to help her with the regular feeding. I even took her to a doctor in Fakirfax, V.A. for an examination. That trip was very sickening because the driver made several stops before getting us there. My wife became very sick and started vomiting in the van. Thanks God that I always took extra towels with me. She also vomited while she was waiting to see the doctor.

I have to thank God that since I had her transferred to another facility; she did not suffer CDiff’s. In that institution they kept the same nursing staff and the same nurse’s aides. Those professionals were more experience than in the previous place. Furthermore, their overall hygiene was better because their housekeepers were more dedicated. I was also satisfied with the physical and occupational therapies she was getting. Although sometimes I missed the daily work out she was getting in the previous place. In this institution she only got therapies three times a week.

The strokes had left her impair to talk, to see clear, to swallow and to get up from bed without help. Therefore, my wife needed me to alert the nurses and the nurses’ aides whenever she needed their help. I felt very fortunate to have her closer to the family. My daughter, Maggie, was able to be with her more often because she lived closer than in the previous institution. Furthermore, I only drove for twenty five minutes; instead of the hour it took me before.

Although she was discharged from the physical therapy after a month; her therapists gave me charts to continue administering both the physical and the occupational therapies to her. This was a tremendous challenge to me. The lack of knowledge was not a major problem because my Lord, whom I have served sinse my youth was guiding me and providing me with the necessary strength to accomplish such a formidable task.

Unfortunately, my wife contracted a terrible infection during the first week of February 2009 and although she was hospitalized for over a week, she did not respond to the treatment. Consequently, she passed away on February 18, 2009. It was a terrible ordeal for her, for treatments work. I’m very thankful to them, to my children and the church members that were there for us.

I am also grateful to the Colonial Funeral Home, located in Leesburg, VA. The director helped us make the necessary arrangements for her burial. She was buried in the Union Cemetery near the Ida Lee Park. This cemetery is located closer to us and therefore we can visit her grave often. Later on, we placed a beautiful headstone engraved with an open Bible and two praying hands. Under the Bible we had written the name of her favorite song, yo danzo como David. It also contains a flower vase where we put in flowers when visit her tomb.

As to my personal health, Dr. Walter O’Brien an urologist in Leesburg, VA, performed two laser surgeries because I had an enlarged prostate. The green laser treatments were very painful. After each treatment the burning and pain kept me awake almost all night. None of the medication helped; so I had to go to the emergency room in the Loudoun Hospital to have a catheter inserted. They could only leave it there for two or three days. Thereafter, every time they took it out, it became very painful to urinate. I also took hot baths in order to relief myself, but I could not empty my bladder entirely. After going back and forth to the doctors’ office and to the hospital several time, Dr. O’Brien scheduled a prostactomy. I was hospitalized for ten days. And I suffered very much on the week end because a nurse did not give me the pain medication on time. When I thought that my problem were over, the doctor did a biopsy and found a tumor. I postponed the removal of it twice because I did not want surgery again. I am feeling much better now. I am sleeping more at night and I do not have diarrhea. Thanks God that the worst has passed. I really miss the workouts and the people I talked to when I went to the gym.

My children have been wonderful. Although I live in Puerto Rico now; they have been keeping track of my condition. I am continuously keeping active, walking in the malls and doing other farm choresː like planting, mowing the grass, etc. I also do the house maintenance. Socially, I attend church regularly which is an important function in my daily life. Since I was a pastor for twenty four years, I miss the people I ministered to. I am always having dreams about being in front of a congregation ministering to them. I realize that by now I am too old; I am going to be eighty on September 6, 2012. But who know what God has in store for me. Glory to his name!

To follow up my condition, I have been going to the Veteran Administration Hospital in San Juan. And once in a while I report to Dr. Collins in the Georgetown University Hospital. In 2010 he administered twenty five regular radiation treatments and three cybernife. The radiation causes a lot of damage to the healthy tissues. Now I am having other problems.

I stay busy watching old movies, solving crosswords puzzles and typing. I also go to church three or four nights during the week and I teach Bible Lessons every Sunday. Additionally, I feel very happy when my pastor gives me a preaching assignment. Whenever I have to preach, I pray and read the Bible more. Thereafter, I feel that the preaching is more effective because the Holy Spirit uses me with a new unction. Glory to God!

 

Agosto 27, 1932 - Julio 5, 2013.