Monday, May 20th





It is with tremendous sadness and sorrow that I report to all of you that my beloved husband and partner in marriage for these last 21 and 1/2 years, Joseph Charles Mueller, has passed away at the age of 52.

Joe left this earth, to be with family members and friends that have gone before him, this afternoon at approximately 3:35pm.  After closing off visitors last Wednesday, May 15th (which also happened to be my birthday), Joe headed rapidly downhill the next day.  He was awakened from sleeping and was completely catatonic....blank stare and no response.  It was quite shocking and took all of us by surprise.  I'm pretty sure, although we will never know, that he may have had a stroke.

The doctor found that Joe did have blood clots in his legs and lungs just prior to his original neurological diagnosis in late December of 2012.  He was on blood thinners until we received the awful ALS diagnosis on Friday, March 22nd of this year.  At that point, hospice was called in because the doctor gave Joe only 6 months to live.  With his passing today, we did not even make the two-month mark.  Although Joe had a more rare, aggressive form of this horrible disease, we're feeling very lucky in that he didn't suffer for years and years like many of those who are diagnosed with ALS.  His first symptoms did not appear until early November of last year.

Earlier today, we decided as a family that living in a vegetative-type state was something that Joe never wanted.  So, he was administered the maximum dosage of pain medications, and then we gathered as a family by his bedside.  I spoke to him and explained that we did not want him in pain any longer, it was OK to leave us although we would miss him terribly, and then we removed the bi-pap breathing device.  The equipment that assisted his breathing during this awful disease had basically turned into an external ventilator and was keeping him breathing....but he was not living.  As a family, we said the Our Father, Hail Mary. and the Memorare.  Within a few minutes, Joe took his own unassisted last breath, opened his eyes and then peacefully passed away.   

We have not finalized funeral arrangements at this time.  When I do know them, I will pass them along in this blog.