My neighbor, and good friend, Kim Elizabeth Pollock passed away suddenly today. Kim and her husband Ryan became close friends of ours when we moved into our new home in Woodland Hills a couple years ago. Out of all our neighbors, they were the ones we hung out with the most. We went to many dinners together and spent a lot of time in each others homes and company. I will certainly miss Kim. And my heart goes out to Ryan, who has just lost his best friend for the last 48 years. They'd been together since they were 16 years old. Their lives had diverged a bit when they graduated high school. But they've been married for well over 25 years and have two wonderful children together.
Kim was very easy to laugh, and was the kindest, dearest woman. She would bring us food she had cooked. She and my wife, Pam, were kind of competing back and forth in the food department. Pam was always bringing food up the hill to their house. Even preparing complete meals in their kitchen.
Kim and Pam would go shopping together frequently. Their favorite stores were Ross, Home Goods, and even Home Depot, where they bought forests of plants and flowers together.
Pam is absolutely crushed by this. I cannot bear to hear the howling and moaning. But I must. Kim was our friend. Kim was Pam's closest friend and meant the world to her. Her passing came as a complete shock to us. We had just had Ryan and Kim over two nights ago for some coffee and nice conversation. There was no sign at all that there was anything wrong. Kim was her normal cheerful self. Ryan and Kim were the perfect couple. I am in shock.
For the last several months, Kim had been having digestive problems. She'd had a procedure at UCLA a few months ago to fix her digestive issues. Mainly, the issue was irregularity in the bowel. She had trouble pooping. She’d go for a couple days without pooping as her abdomen became distended and hardened. That problem was supposedly fixed at UCLA. But it recurred a couple months ago, and it turned out she had a growth in her colon which was creating a blockage which had to be removed. She had it taken care of at Providence Tarzana Medical Center, and was allowed to go home after nearly two weeks in the hospital. That was the end of the problem, or so we thought. I'd even asked Kim last week when we prepared dinner at their house, and she said it was all fine. Kim had some ongoing issues afterward with oozing at the wound site for her surgery. But she had a nurse coming to the house to check and change the dressing regularly.
According to Ryan today, Kim had not pooped for a couple days again, and her gut was hard, and she was in distress. The nurse did not seem to catch on that there was something dreadfully serious happening to Kim. Yesterday afternoon, Kim finally went to use the bathroom, but she was weak and passed out. Ryan called 911. The ambulance whisked her to the ER at Providence....where they waited from 7PM until 5AM before a room became available in the ICU. By that time, Kim had been intubated and was on machines. She never regained consciousness. Pam and I got word from Ryan late this morning and went to the hospital to see Kim. She was not looking very healthy at all. She was all full of lines and fluids and tubes. The RN who was attending to her was kept very busy changing fluid bags and plasma infusion bags. Her organs were already in shutdown. Her liver enzymes were critically high. She only had one kidney because she had donated the other one to her husband Ryan, who needed it after his first kidney transplant went south. I knew after hearing her ABG results that things were not looking good at all. That she was dying. But I couldn't bring myself to tell Ryan. There always has to be hope. Even when science says otherwise. But I knew this was going to be it, even though I was praying for a miracle, along with everyone else.
Kim passed away this afternoon at about 3:30PM. And we all miss her terribly. It was too sudden. We're in a quandary now of second-guessing and 20/20 hindsight, and blaming the stars for taking away such a nice, kind hearted, beautiful soul. I am writing this to help deal with my own grief and confusion. It is even more difficult for Pam, who I told to get some sleep. We are both a mess.We are there for Ryan because he's our friend. Kim and Ryan and their family are like family to us. And now we will take care of each other. It doesn't seem real at all. I need to get some rest now.
