PCC 7: Over and Out
Jay Pearce: 1954-2024
Gary, here. Episode 6, Final Hours, recorded on August 20, was correct. Jay died at 4:20 am the next day, Wednesday, August 21, 2024. I was honored to be by his side, along with his wife Melisse, his son Dale and daughters Sara and Mannon, Sara’s partner Coty Phousongphouang, and honorary family member John Henke.
Little changed from my description in Episode 6. Jay’s pulse rate slowed a little overnight. Consulting with his doctor, we asked to have the oxygen feed removed. That dropped his blood-oxygen level from the 90s to the 80s, where it remained through the night. Dale, Sara and Coty remained overnight to keep vigil. The rest of us tried to get some sleep at home or our hotels.
Sara called and woke me around 2 am. Jay’s blood-oxygen was dropping quickly, even though his pulse was racing, trying to keep oxygen in his bloodstream. The nursing staff said it was it was time to call us in.
As we stood by his bedside, everyone touching him someplace (I had my hand on his forehead), his breathing slowed, the blood-oxygen level dropped below 50, and then his pulse dropped from near 100 to, finally, zero, as he took his last breath. There was nothing dramatic. No gasp, no shudder. He just stopped.
Likely brain activity had ceased well before this, but we weren’t monitoring it. The staff cautioned us about hanging onto the pulse and O2 levels too closely. We told them that many of us were techies, and we understand measurement. Those numbers did help us understand what was happening, and accurately predicted the end.
It’s September 25 as I type this. More than a month has passed. Melisse organized a Celebration of Life at the WILL TV Studios in Urbana, and about 70 of Jay’s friends and collegues attended. Another will be held in October in Carbondale IL, where Jay’s career began, and a final tribute is in the works for the Rock Island area where Jay was CEO of WVIK before retiring.
I think this brings the Jay and Gary Pancreatic CancerCast to a close. However, the Jay and Gary Show may well continue. I’m not quite sure how, or under what name, but I have new connections to family and friends, and some of us aren’t through podcasting yet. Stay tuned.
And goodbye, my brother. I love you.