The Last Years 1990-2003

Mum and Abe stayed in Red Deer until 1996. For a brief period, Mum came to live with us, but she missed Abe and
went back to Red Deer.

Mum loved potatoes and most kinds of vegetables like Brussels sprouts, and broccoli. She liked fresh strawberries.
She did not care very much for sweets, such as ice cream, but she did like rice pudding, tapioca and maple buds.
Since Seventh-day Adventists frown on the use of tea and coffee, she struggled with this from the time she joined
the SDA church in the 1950s - she loved her tea, which she drank with a little milk and no sugar.

Although black tea had always been her favorite, she discovered black currant tea, and from then always had
several boxes on hand. She made this tea in a pot, and would put 5 or 6 bags into the teapot, so that it was very
strong.

Abe did most of the meal preparations, as Mum's wrist hurt too much to do anything like peel potatoes or slice a tomato.
Despite his poor eyesight, Abe never accepted his blindness, and he fought it all the time.

She developed severe pain in her left forearm and the arm swelled up. The doctor diagnosed gout. Mum said she had
never experienced such pain in all her life. We suspect she may have had Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) which more commonly
occurs in the legs.

She was prescribed Ativan for anxiety, and was admitted to the hospital many times for difficulty breathing. All the tests
came back okay, and the doctors decided she was having anxiety attacks. One possible side effect of Cardizem (which she was taking
for her heart) is breathing difficulty.

Mum became delusional and fancied that she was going to "go west and build a little house in the woods".
Her letters from that time are out of character, and when using the telephone, she would sign off by saying
"Love, Mum" as if she had written a letter. We believe that she had a stroke that was untreated and undiagnosed.

We moved her to stay with us while waiting for a bed in a nursing home, in 1996. We arranged for her to be seen by
a geriatric specialist. He said that Mum had a breathing problem and would probably not live past a year. He was wrong.

The first nursing home that had an opening was called Bowcrest. Abe moved there a short time later. Whenever she was
near Abe, Mum became very agitated, and we found a vacancy at a newer and nicer residence. She lived there for the remainder of
her life.

The doctor for the nursing home gradually took Mum off of all medications except one for wrist pain.

She had a stroke, while at the nursing home, but over a few months recovered fairly well from it, and the doctor said
that it was a bit of a miracle that she had recuperated as well as she did.

Mum lost her ability to communicate, and while she seemed to understand both the spoken and the written
word, she was very limited in her responses.

Her hearing had never been very good, and she became deaf in her left ear.

She was placed on a special diet because she choked when trying to swallow, especially liquids.

Abe passed away November 9, 2002, at the age of 86.

Mum developed pneumonia, and passed away on April 29, 2003, a few months short of her 89th birthday.

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Ellen R. Janzen was interred at Mountain View Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta
Garden of Memories
"In God's Loving Care"
"Asleep in Jesus"

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Mum gave to several charitable groups over the years, and she liked small thought cards such as the one below.

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