From The Beginning: Honoring Troy Lee Shorts Aka Grandpa Troy.

On Thursday January 16th we were getting the kids ready for bed and Travis said he was going to hop in the shower real quick. I was reading with Erilyn and didn't think much of it till he came up stairs with his clothes changed and grabbed his keys and said that he was going to be with his dad. His uncle Kenny had called and said he wasn't to doing well and had spent the morning in the ER and that he needed a blood transfusion but was sent home. He was scared to leave him alone. So Travis went to be with him which was a good thing because at around 10:30 pm Troy got up to go to the bathroom and Travis was helping him because he was week. He got about half way to the bathroom before collapsing Travis couldn't get him to respond so he called 911 by the time the ambulance got there He was responsive but very week so they took him via ambulance to ER. Travis fallowed, They found out that he had pneumonia and they had they intubate him to get some air in him because his blood pressure and oxygen were dangerously low.

The school called about 6;30am Friday morning to say that they were still having school but that kids would not be marked tardy because of weather- a snow storm that happened over night. Soon after Travis called me and told me the above story and i knew that the kids weren't going to school. They played in the snow and made 3 snow men ( those pictures will be in the January Random post). About 11 Travis' mom called me and told me that i should probably go be with Travis, i knew that Troy would not want the kids to see him like that so i found a sitter. And Travis mom picked me up. When i got there i counted 11 bags of fluid and blood hooked up to him. He was stable but in the ICU they said to be safe we should probably call family to come see him. His sister Trena flew in from Texas (She got there about midnight.) Matt couldn't get released to come because he was set to come to be re-stationed in Utah flying in on the 28th. (He came in November for a couple weeks to spend time with him.) A few other family members came to see him and tell stories of his life.

Travis had literally been up since 3;30 am wed morning so about 8pm I suggested that we go home so he could rest and we could relieve that babysitter. He agreed About 10pm they called and said that they would feel more comfortable if we were closer. So i called my brother to come stay with the kids. When we go there They told us that they tried to ween him off the medicine and his blood pressure dropped. Travis had his d.n.r so we had to be close in-case something happened he tried to sleep on the recliner but with people coming in and out and alarms going off he just couldn't sleep. The nurse told us that there was a Ronald McDonald type house we could stay at for $25 so we decided to do that...Travis was exhausted! It was just across the street from the hospital so we would be close. We got there about 1 and he fell right asleep. At about 4 they called and said to come asap. So we got up and headed back to the ICU when we got there the nurse and doc were both in the room they said that every-time they tried to wean him off the medicine his vitals would drop he was also running a fever, the medicine can only be given for so long before it starts to do more bad then good and they were worried it was attacking his vital organs. So we were given a choice continue the medicine and hope he would make a turn for the better or stop the medicine and let him go. As we were discussing troy said clear as day thru his breathing tube " Just let me go" He was so exhausted and just ready to be done fighting. We called his other sister and she decided she wanted to come up to say good bye. So we waited for her. Before he said "just let me go" he was alert and would answer yes or no questions but after that we couldn't really get him to respond. He was ready to go and his body was giving out,. after a long HARD 2 year battle he was ready to return to his father in heaven at 10AM his other sister arrived and said her good byes at 10:30 we were ready to let him go the nurses came in and extabated him and stopped the medicine. They were done with all of that by 10:40 and at 10;45 there was no pulse. We had Matt on skype the whole time so we he was able to say his last good byes as well.

He was the best Grandpa he always sent the kids packages and called often to talk to them he visited about once or twice a year and loved to spoil the grand kids and help with our many house remodels. He raised 2 amazing boys and was good at everything he tried. He will truly be missed. But Im glad that the kids have another guardian angel to watch over them.