Humans of Burnaby

A Mother's Love (3 of 4)

Part 3/4:

“The kidney doctor came and told us that his kidneys were also failing and he asked us if we’d ever heard of mitochondria. We remembered the term from biology classes but nothing more. Basically, the mitochondria is what produces energy in our cells. Frankie’s were depleting at a very rapid rate. His major organs were shutting down.

In the final MRI, it showed a lot more white matter in the brain than grey – his brain was slowly dying as well.

When we got back to the BC Children’s Hospital, a doctor and two nurses from the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice came to speak to us. They told us that if we went home and something happened to Frankie and we called 911, that there would be nothing they could do.

So even though we wanted to go home with Frankie, we decided to go to the hospice. It was a really beautiful place – although it was the last place where you wanted to be.

As soon as we got there, Frankie’s breathing was really slowing down and he didn’t open his eyes. I still remember watching him lie in bed – he still had his feeding tube in, and they gave him medication to help ease his pain. 

The nurses would check on us ever so often. They suggested that we go outside and get some fresh air. We were too scared that if we moved, something was going to happen.

Eventually, we went outside and we carried Frankie in one of those big royal buggies and we went out to the garden. 

We each got to hold him one last time and he passed away there.”

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