OBITUARY
 

Obituary for James "Bob" Robert McLain January 8, 1952 - December 14, 2015 Bob was greeted into his heavenly home while surrounded by family members after several days in ICU. He will be greatly missed by hundreds in the municipal government family where he is a highly respected financial expert after more than 30 years of service. He was born in Laurel, MS and has been in the DFW area his entire life. He graduated from R.L Turner High School, then graduated with a degree in finance and business from University of North Texas. He was a loving husband and father that loved to make people laugh! He was a member of First Baptist Church of Lewisville. We are all going to miss you dad we love you!! Bob is preceded in death by his father, Lewis (Mac) and Lucia McLain. He is survived by his wife, Jane McLain, and four children and spouses: Tara & Matt Kristof, Jason McLain, Kathryn & Jason Ford and Ryan McLain as well as grandchildren Mia Kristof and Brett, Kristen and Kailey Ford. He has one brother, Lewis McLain, and one sister, Carol Odum as well as many nieces and nephews. Flower Mound Cemetery, 1501 Flower Mound road, Flower Mound, TX 75028

MEMORIAL
 

12/14/15 By Tara Kristof — Dec 14, 2015 6:34am I have been frozen in shock and contemplating what to write here. I really thought my dad would pull out of this. I thought that there was a chance. I didn't really understand that being on the ventilator was life support. I thought it was temporary. Today my family will meet up at the hospital with the hospice team and they will take him off the ventilator. The pulmonologist does not think he will be able to breathe on his own and that anywhere from minutes to days, he will die. This is a shock to all of us. I cannot wrap my brain around never hearing my sweet daddy's voice again. I know my daddy though, and I know that he would not want to drag this out on and on with a not-so-great quality of life. Let me piece together some information for you because it has come to us in pieces--some even as late as yesterday. This has been a confusing case for the doctors to find out what has happened. My dad was taken to the hospital with what they thought was septic shock, vomiting, and respiratory failure. Usually when there's septic shock symptoms that means infection. After every test known to man they did not find a bug in his body--not virus or bacteria. On one point they had him on anti-viral and antibiotics, and steroids. He continued having a fever even after a week or so of all of that with no reason they could find. He has been on the ventilator since he's been there so we (nor the doctors) have been able to talk to him---and this has been the most difficult thing of it all. To not hear his voice or his wishes is difficult. We thought his brain was ok since he was able to nod but he has not been responding to serious/important questions and the doctors have said that his responses have been inconsistent and not dependable. They think he has encephalitis--swelling/inflammation in the brain. He may have some brain damage--we just don't know. Later tests revealed some more important findings. A bronchoscope revealed a large mass which has now been confirmed to be lung cancer. They don't know how long it has been there. We don't know if he knew that he had it or not. My dad had testicular cancer back in the 80's and he has had some lung issues like pneumonia in the past year or two where he has driven himself to the hospital. I don't want to speculate but I would not be surprised if he knew and chose not to treat it. On the other hand, maybe they did not see it on other tests and he did not know. He has a CPAP and COPD but I'm not sure how often/intensely they evaluate the lungs. The have not done further tests to reveal what stage the cancer is in but the doctor guesstimated Stage 3. They have not evaluated to see if it has metastasized anywhere else but untreated the doctor gave him 6-9 months to live. He also said my dad was in no shape to receive any kind of treatment for it. The chemo would kill him. I'm not sure at what point he has had kidney issues but they have been not doing good the whole time he's been in the hospital. One of his diagnosis is "acute kidney injury". A Doppler of his extremities revealed a DVT (deep vein thrombosis a.k.a. blood clot) in his right arm which if it breaks off can cause a pulmonary embolism. With the new information the doctor thinks that between the cancer and the blood clot his body went into a health crisis which looked like septic shock but actually wasn't. On top of this my dad has been morbidly obese most of his life. He has smoked for 40+ years. He has diabetes and has been diabetic for a long time. He works like crazy and hasn't slept well in years. This is a health crisis in the making. They have been trying to wean him off the CPAP mode of the ventilator (where his body does more work than the machine) and every time he starts to fail the weaning trial. His blood pressure and pulse skyrocket and he appears to be struggling (it's extremely hard to watch). Of course they don't really know until they take it all out but they do not think he can breathe on his own. The only other option we have been given is a tracheostomy which is a hole in the throat but he would still be on a ventilator. It would not extend life, it would merely prolong death until the cancer kills him. They said he'd never walk or talk again. He would be lying in a bed with a machine keeping him alive. He does have a medical directive that says he would not want to be on life support and being on the ventilator would be that. They think that because of the cancer and the COPD his lungs are just to weak. He has so many different issues going on with so many systems in his body. I know he would want to just go and not waste away slowly in pain. If he can't talk and walk around---well---that's not good quality of life for my dad. We are all in shock and have appreciated your love and support. Our family will be there with him as they take him off the machines and make him comfortable. I will of course keep you posted here and the inevitable information and plans that follow. Please hold my dad in your thoughts today. Please know that he has deep love for all of you. I love you Daddy SO MUCH. With love, Tara

McLAIN
JAMES "BOB" ROBERT - JAN 8, 1952 - DEC 14, 2015
MARIA JANE - JUNE 11, 1947 - BLANK

Flower Mound Cemetery, Flower Mound, Denton County, Texas