[Written by his wife Rosemary and
daughter Julia, then radically edited by his other daughter Diana.]
Ellis' pain had subsided during the
fall after the summer surgery in Houston, but it began to return at
the end of the year. The kids came for Christmas, so that took his
mind off the pain considerably.
Diana, Julia and Rick (Julia's husband
and Ellis' Marine hero) were all here, and Julia and Rick surprised
Ellis with a new television for his office, which made him very
happy. Diana got to accompany Ellis on one of his regular
neighborhood walks. She borrowed his extra cowboy hat and walking
stick so they would look alike.
On 9 January 2018, Ellis returned to
Houston for a checkup with Dr. David Sugarbaker. A CT scan of the
chest and a PT scan were performed. The tests revealed a tumor “the
size of a billiard ball”. Ellis felt discouraged after we got the
results. When we returned to Cottonwood, we anxiously awaited a
visit with the oncologist, Dr. Deborah Lindquist, to try a new
treatment: Opdivo (nivolumab).
The Opdivo treatment had many side
effects including a high white blood cell count, low electrolytes,
and a persistent high fever. On Sunday, 4 February 2018, paramedics
took him by ambulance to Verde Valley Medical Center. On Monday, he
aspirated fluid into his lungs and was rushed to ICU where he was put
on oxygen, antibiotics and steroids. Then he had several episodes of
A-fib, so heart medications were added. On Saturday night, 10
February 2018, he received two units of blood.
Diana came to Arizona on Monday, 5
February 2018 and Julia arrived the following Sunday. Once both of
his kids were here, Ellis declared that he was ready to go. We
shared favorite memories. The doctor didn't agree that it was time
for him to go and talked him out of it. So we spent another week of
testing, poking and prodding.
(Note from Diana: During Dad's illness,
we learned that Julie should have been a geriatric nurse. She
anticipated his needs and seemed to do everything at one time. He was
so relieved when she arrived. I did my best but mostly just told him
he was cute then pressed the call button or said “Julie!”. Julie
also seemed to know what all the machines and numbers and beeps were
about.)
It was finally determined that the
infection was in his port that was placed for chemo. The nurses
could no longer get access to his veins, so Ellis decided it was time
to give up and go home so he could get some rest. He's spending time
with the kids and is being cared for by Rosemary and Maggie's
Hospice.
