Henry Hansen Story
On the 23rd, when I awoke and came out in to the family room I found him sitting at the table. This was the only time of the day that he had been able to sleep. But he said he had not even been to bed--couldn't lie down. He had a hacking cough and I called Dr. Nutt. This was Friday AM and it was about 4:00 PM when he was located and called back. He thought perhaps there was a touch of pneumonia and said to bring him into the emergency room at University Hospital so he could check on him, his office being closed by then. I said something about a shower first but he said no, just come as he is. Well Hank said "no way" and went downstairs and by himself took a shower. He was able to get the water on and off and do everything but dry and dress himself. He came back upstairs and I helped him get ready. He stood in the middle of the floor and put his pants on. His legs were good and so was his balance. We had company all day, Bill Hale, can't remember who all else but the last visitor was our neighbor Wendy Hawley. Finally we got started. He was so uncomfortable. I drove and in no time we were there and located the emergency entrance. I let him off at the door and he walked in alone. By the time I parked and walked back he was all checked in! We spent a miserable 5 hours in that room. There had to be tests made and it was a busy place. Mostly we waited. They did finally fix him up on a gurney, but he wasn't happy at all. He had both me and the nurses, and whatever intern that came by, busy. We just couldn't make him comfortable. Finally at 10 o'clock they decided to admit him and sent 2 doctors for him--the ones who would be caring for him. They said to me that I might as well go home--that he was in good hands. There was a medical team for the pneumonia and a neurological team for the ALS. They also said he would be in "critical" care unit only because there was no bed available in the "intermediate" care--that he wasn't that sick. I was glad to go home--tired--so kissed him goodbye and promised to be back in the morning.
Arriving home late, I made one phone call to Susan, who would still be up. Thought someone ought to know what was happening. Then I went to bed. But about an hour later the phone rang and it was the doctor at the hospital. He said "Your husband isn't responding--what do you want us to do?" I was half asleep and totally in shock! Could not answer. Was not prepared for that in any way. In spite of all our talking about it, and understanding completely what Hank wanted there was no way I could tell them to do nothing! They didn't press me--said they would call Dr. Nutt. I jumped out of bed and began to dress, thinking I would just drive back up there and take care of everything, but I realized that I was in no shape to drive. I was shaking badly. So I called David and then with Jackie's encouragement, called Barbara, Dean and Susan. Oh, I hated to make those calls. David was ill with bronchial asthma and had a wife in a wheel chair (with her poor broken leg). Susan was nursing a baby. Barbara worked nights and both the girls had young children as did David. Dean had his own masonry business and was so busy. But they responded so quickly--we all headed for the hospital. The girls got there first. Susan had been doing volunteer work at a hospital and had experience in making patients comfortable. He knew we were there at first--though he never regained consciousness--was able to squeeze our hand. We learned that his doctor (Nutt) couldn't be found so his physicians had given him enough oxygen to revive him and had explained to him that the problem was pneumonia and that could be fixed. He said "no tubes" and they again explained that they could help him but he said "no tubes" and then they started the morphine drip.
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Soon he relaxed into a deeper sleep-at no time did he seem uncomfortable. We stayed through the night. Don was with us too. We watched the heart monitor and he steadily lost ground. By five AM we were a weary bunch and I sent everybody home. David could hardly breathe. Dean had an early appointment and the girls needed to care for their families, and I just wanted to be alone with Hank for a while. It seemed like we had never been alone--though we began our marriage with just the two of us it hadn't lasted long--and neither did that quiet time. David called Paul Roberts as soon as he arrived home and while he could scarcely speak or get his message out, Paul understood and soon he and Bev were at the hospital. Shortly after came a dozen more. The room filled up and the hospital allowed it. Susan made it back but was the only one there when the end came. He just slowly slipped away. Actually Paul and Bardell gave him a Priesthood blessing of release. Did I mention the blessings he had previously? Paul had fasted and prepared himself to give him a blessing some months before, but was unable to speak of his regaining any health--only a blessing of comfort. It did seem to be the Lord's will--surely his name was in everyone's prayers and kept on the Temple prayer roll. And now they simply gave him a blessing of release from his poor sick body. And he was. Surrounded by a room full of dear sweet friends who spent those last hours with me, exactly as Hank would have wanted it. He was always the happiest when surrounded by friends. It was early afternoon and Barbara came just a few minutes too late. I called David who was just leaving the house with Jackie to come to the hospital. It was over and we were all in shock. It was July 24, 1993 and it was our 46th wedding anniversary.
The staff at the hospital couldn't have been kinder. They knew it was our anniversary. One nurse said that she had witnessed that scene many times but had never known it to be so peaceful and beautiful. They all referred to my 'family' being there--when actually Susan was the only real family member--all the others were my Ward family and since they were all young enough to be 'family' I didn't explain. I loved them as did Hank, like our own. If I try now to name them I'd leave someone out. Those good people who supported me that day and all the days since. It was raining that Saturday and they simply canceled the big Ward celebration. John told me that there was a ball game in the AM and he was in it. They had received the word about Hank's condition and kept it from him until the game was over. He was told, and then the team, and they went off where they could be alone and had a prayer given for him. He said they all cried.
Dr. Nutt explained the importance of an autopsy as Hank had both Parkinsons and ALS and anything they could learn from a study of his brain and his spinal cord could conceivably help the neurology department at OHSU. I gave him my permission and I'm sure Hank would have approved. I arrived home late afternoon, worn out, took the phone off the hook and put a note on the door. It helped for a couple of hours. Then it began. A steady stream of visitors and phone calls-thank goodness both of my daughters were able to be here with me. They answered both the phone and the door and kept me together. We had to choose a casket but the grave site choice had been made about 1½ years before--Finley's at Sunset. Little did we know how soon we would be using it.
Hank had outlined what he wanted in a funeral service several weeks before. He wanted Paul Roberts to speak on a spiritual theme. He said his non-member family would be there and he wanted them to hear the gospel message. He wanted Bardell to give the eulogy, John to be included and "Oh My Father" to be sung. Those poor men--it was a difficult assignment. There was also more that he wanted (and tried to tell Bardell) but we never learned what it was. I chose to have the youth participate. For years the Roberts had called him "Hanky Doodle" and for this party planned for the 24th (did I mention that it was canceled--not because of his situation, but because it was raining--they hadn't yet heard that he was in the hospital dying). Bev wrote "He's our Hanky Doodle Dandy" and had the young women ready to perform. There was a second song ready also, written by Rhonda Holman "Ode to Hank Hansen." I chose to have the girls do their "Hanky Doodle Dandy" as a prelude to the service and it was an absolute perfect way to begin. He had loved those girls and they loved him and with his great sense of fun and humor and everything else that he had enjoyed all his life, he had to have been pleased with that kind of beginning.
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