A Walk on Holy Ground

A drug interaction at home threw Mae Holland, 95, into sudden and severe opioid withdrawal. She was rushed to the Adventist Health Portland emergency room, where the team worked quickly to assess and treat her through agonizing symptoms of the interaction and the heart attack it ultimately caused.

“They treated my mom with so much love and care, trying to alleviate her misery,” says Lisa Wang, Mae’s daughter who was with her the whole time.

Mae was transferred to the cardiac intensive care unit, where staff immediately worked to make her as comfortable as possible, even as she faded into less consciousness. The doctor visited and explained to Lisa that her mom’s heart was shutting down.

Over the next few hours, Mae faded away, while Lisa was supported by the CVICU staff. “I was treated so well, and the nurses assigned to us wrapped me up in their love and care immediately,” Lisa says. “They were kind and loving and treated my momma so lovingly.”

After Mae passed away, the team told Lisa she could stay as long as she needed. “I quietly sat with my momma, kissed her face and hands and lovingly held her,” Lisa says.

The two members of the CVICU team quietly came in and handed Lisa two little vials, each containing her mother’s EKG heart rhythm strips, plus a note from the staff. “They quietly presented these to me — one for me, and one for my remaining sibling,” Lisa remembers. “They hugged and comforted me and reminded me what a good loving person I was and family we were. Everyone assured me that it wasn’t my fault.”

Today, her vial sits on Lisa’s kitchen desk, where she can easily see it and think of her mom and the staff who cared for her. “The small strip in the vial represents the last beats of my momma’s heart. It was so comforting to hold it in my hand as something to hold onto and keep from her and her last moments,” Lisa says. “To say it was and is incredibly touching and precious to me in my grieving would be a large understatement.”

Lisa says the care she and her mom received was incredibly compassionate and loving thanks to the mission-driven medical team. “It felt like a piece of God’s hand was holding them and her and me while she transitioned,” she explains. “It was definitely holy ground we all walked on that day and night.”