On Sunday, August 1, 2021 my sister Nancy Porter tested positive for Covid 19. She was having trouble breathing so on Monday August 2 she went to the emergency room at Houston Methodist Hospital. Since her oxygen level was fairly good & claiming they didn’t have a bed available, she was sent home with a prescription for an inhaler & cough medicine. She returned to that same hospital on Wednesday August 4 still feeling sick and struggling to breath. Once again she was sent home because of a lack of beds and told she wasn’t sick enough.

On Thursday, the 5th she went to the ER at Memorial Herman Hospital. The  physician on duty there asked Nancy if she had been vaccinated for Covid. When told “No” the doctor said, “How’s that working for you now”? She continued her intimidation by remarking, “well now you’re probably going to die”!

Nancy was the youngest of 3 girls. I’m the oldest and live in Iowa. My other sister Jeanne lives in California. Nancy was never married and lived alone. She was so good to care for our parents as they struggled with health issues. Our dad passed away in 2013 of pancreatic cancer and our mom passed away in 2014 of acute myeloid leukemia. This left Nancy alone during the “Covid plandemic”. Although she called us multiple times a day updating us on how she was feeling, neither Jeanne or myself could be there to help her. I feel so guilty because when I discouraged her from going to the hospital, she said, “I’m sick & scared and I want someone to take care of me”. I should have been there for her like she was for our parents. Instead, she turned to the hospital for help, which proved to be a fatal mistake.

Nancy was admitted to Memorial Herman Hospital from that ER visit and didn’t get a room until late afternoon on Friday. We (Jeanne & I) were able to visit with her on her cell for a day or two before we lost communication. Whether it was that her phone had died or was out of reach or she was just not able to talk, I’m not sure what the case was but we were forced to stay updated on her condition by phone calls to the nurses. We knew she was being given high flow oxygen and remdesiver but we stayed hopeful that she would get better. On Tuesday, August 10 we were told she was very sick & needed to be vented. We asked if they would wait til we got there and could visit with her. Jeanne & I both flew to Houston, arriving around 8 p.m. that Tuesday evening. We went to the hospital expecting to be allowed visitation rights. The front desk gal repeatedly called the doctors on duty because we were insisting on seeing her. The doctors knew we were coming and had lead us to believe we could see her when we got into town. After all, we would not have immediately flown down if we had been told that visitors weren’t allowed. Jeanne & I both feel that the staff did not want us to talk to Nancy for fear we would advise against the ventilator, which we most definitely would have!!

After begging the front desk gal for about 30 minutes or more, her final call to Nancy’s doctors proved useless. We were told to come back in the morning & they would let us see her then. Wednesday morning August 11, we were leaving our hotel room to be at the hospital by 8 a.m. when we received a call informing us that Nancy  was very I’ll and needed to be vented immediately. When told we were on our way and wanted to see her first we were told she was too critical. We went to the hospital anyway and waited to talk to her doctors. After a couple hours we finally met with 2 of her doctors and her pulmonologist. I asked if she could be given ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine. They said NO. I then asked about vitamin injections. Once again the answer was NO, that was not hospital protocol. I asked what the percentage was of patients coming off the ventilator. She stated that not many do. I asked why they continue to treat patients using remdesiver and venting them if the prognosis is so grim. The answer I got was, it is hospital protocol.

We were allowed to stand outside the glass wall of Nancy’s room and see her briefly. When Jeanne pulled out her phone to “innocently” snap a potential last picture of our sister, the nurse grabbed her hand and told her no pictures were allowed. WHY NOT!?! Is that Covid hospital protocol too???? I’d like to know if other visitors  on non-Covid floors are allowed to photograph their loved ones. Or is it for fear of us capturing something incriminating??

Realizing that we missed our last chance to communicate with Nancy and there would be no further “viewings” allowed, Jeanne and I decided to leave Houston. Opting to stay together while we waited for news on Nancy’s status, Jeanne flew back to Iowa with me. We called the hospital several times a day, finding that our best opportunity to visit with her nurse was very early in the morning. So we would set our alarm and call around 5 a.m. where her nurses seemed to take more time to answer questions and give us all the details as to Nancy’s condition. We begged to have them put the phone to her ear so we could speak to her. Some were very accommodating. In fact, we were given the chance to “video chat” with her. They set up a time once a day where we could spend about 20 minutes talking to her with the camera focused on her lying there. Jeanne’s daughters and my children and grandchildren all recorded messages that we played for Nancy hoping that she could hear and know how much she was loved.

In Tuesday, August 17, 2021 around the designated time for our video chat, the hospital called. Expecting our usual “chat time” we were surprised to hear the doctor’s voice. She was calling to let us know that they were losing Nancy. They held the phone up to her ear (supposedly) so we could say our goodbyes. At 1:30 p.m. we heard the horrible words…she’s gone. So, for the sweet soul who selflessly cared for her mom and dad and was by their side when they passed, she died ALONE! Deprived of the very gift she gave my parents – the presence of a loved one.  Though she was not physically alone, instead she was surrounded by the very ones who chose to take her life.

Nancy died just weeks before her 60th birthday.

Nancy Gay Porter                    September 14, 1961- August 17, 2021