“Rick said, ‘We need to talk,’” Debbie recalled. “I get the pencil and paper out, and he starts telling me what he wants at his funeral.”

For several months, Debbie Francis had noticed her husband Rick’s declining health. It began subtly—with a mysterious weight loss that offered no immediate explanation.

“He got really sick, and he actually threw up a bunch,” Debbie said. “And we knew something wasn't right. Went to the doctor, and they drew blood, and they called us the next morning and said, ‘Your hemoglobin's 5.6, you need to get to the ER.’”

Rick was admitted to Skyline Hospital. There, doctors confirmed he had double pneumonia—and they suspected internal bleeding.

“Being a nurse, I knew hemoglobin 5.6, it's at the verge of being life-threatening,” Debbie said. “I mean, we're down

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