Update 8 - Don's Journey to Hell and Back

To everyone following Don Harkins journey to recovery, I simply cannot tell you how much your love, compassion and prayers of support for his journey back to life has been for both of us. The main reason I couldn't maintain the updates was the fact that I really needed to stay focused on the task at hand - removing Don from the clutches of the Devil himself. There is also much more to this drama since in the process of saving his life, he literally should have been dead. I was struggling with lack of control of what was being done to my beloved and feeling very desperate at times, seeking a transfer to ANY other hospital while Don was still in critical condition. There are also many heinous "errors" that Leah and Bill Deagle caught when I was finally able to get medical records out to them (four days worth) on the 14th. Leah told me much more after her visit to ICU on the 10th - I am still reeling in disbelief. Don was also extremely disempowered. Although we arrived on Sept. 5th with Power of Attorney for Don, the oncologist on duty refused to treat unless he was able to make all medical decisions (we changed the POA that afternoon and got Don to sign it just before he could no longer sign it...) At that time, Don literally was So sick that we compromised in order to save his life. That night he was barely hanging on... it took five hours after arrival to put him in a bed in ICU.

Don got his first good night sleep on the evening of the 13th and has had extremely lucid dreams since then. The first item we addressed was that he was to eat NO hospital food. The next step was on Tuesday morning when he refused platelets and a blood transfusion. After that was refusal of the saline and potassium drips (produced in fluoridated cities...) By Tuesday, his oncologist was wanting to speak with me. He had been absent the 10th through the 13th when his partner stopped the chemo since he would have lost his kidneys if they hadn't stopped it...

We met in the afternoon in his oncology office. This is the ONLY meeting we had regarding Don's care - there was no "plan" and no communication with me or Don regarding his care other than crisis management. If he died, so be it. If he lived, then it is by the grace of God. Although the nurses were very kind to Don, they simply followed the orders of the doctors. Anyhow, Don's oncologist explained to me, our daughter and a friend/witness that if Don is refusing treatment, he will need to leave. He stressed how sick Don was and showed us the results of the MRI they forced on him Saturday night (Don said an MRI is pure HELL.) The doctor was very matter of fact about lesions in Don's brain although he couldn't tell us whether they were historical (scarring from the M5 monoblastic leukemia - a subtype of AML) or active. (His partner had told me Saturday night that I should think about radiating his brain since the chemo doesn't seem to reach the brain tissue!) The meeting ended with an extremely dire prognosis and the offer to transfer him to the oncology group in Spokane and to another hospital. I told him we were looking into going to Mexico to a hospital that does a combo of alternative and allopathic methods. He countered with the urgency of doing this right away - within 24 hours.

Luckily we had a very powerful prayer circle on Saturday night after the doctor (our doctor's partner) had called with the results of his MRI - this energy stabilized me to be able to get centered better and not act from a space of fear (or at least not as much! :-) Don had told me this same day that he wanted to leave - it was time. By then, I agreed but felt a bit nervous doing this suddenly. Well, by this morning we had decided I would be picking him up and and taking him out of there. I had one condition - that he see our naturopath nearby for a total assessment and protocol as the first stop after the hospital and on the way home, and then to a safe healing place. This morning he had the catheter removed and the two pique (sp?) lines. Praise Yahweh! His two doctors - oncologist and infectious disease - also met with him this morning. They questioned his mental condition regarding wanting to be discharged against medical advice and suggested a psych evaluation. Don couldn't believe they would pull this one. Thankfully, he passed all their "questions" - basic math and today's date, etc. Luckily, my sister and a dear friend were there since I was traveling and picking up things he needed for the journey. How thankful we have been to have witnesses around us! :-)

Although Don's journey is far from over, he is recovering quite well. He is on bed rest, quiet and a strict regimen - which will be more in full swing tomorrow. He will not be having any visitors while he is recovering, or phone calls. He really needs plenty of space to heal and process his experience. Please KNOW that your prayers absolutely made a world of difference. He is a transformed man and an amazing partner for me. I am so proud to be his wife and stand by him during his healing journey. Although I want to be with him daily, we all felt it was best to distance him from The Idaho Observer and VacLib work to enable him space to recover. We will keep you posted. It will not necessarily be easy even now since he has much detoxing to do just from all the drugs he was given. But just having him off the drugs for 36 hours has made a world of difference. And he is able to truly sleep and have the peace and quiet necessary for all healing to take place. Trust me - Don will be sharing his spiritual journey, his insights and new found wisdom - all due to this experience - in the future so please be patient - this story truly must be told.

With Love, Extreme Gratitude, and Compassion,

~Ingri