My Mother
Oh no my mother is dying
She is sick
She is yellow
She is tired
She has cancer
She will not get well
The treatment didn't work
The cancer is too strong, too fast, too vicious
How can this be?
I am shocked
I am stunned
I am sad and angry
But mostly sad
Who has or will love me like my mother?
She is dying
I am going to be without her
I am going
I am going to sit by her
I touch her, kiss her
I talk to her until she is too tired to talk back to me
And I still sit by her and
Still touch her and kiss her
And I listen and listen
To every breath
Because this one might be the last
And then its not
But the next one might be
So I sit and I touch her
And listen
I want to hear them all
I will be here for every one
Please be quiet so I can listen
Stop the words, just listen
To every precious breath that she has left
I will sit and listen and touch her and kiss her
And I will listen until the very least breath
Of my dear, silly, loud, loving mom
She is gone now
She is gone
My mother has died
She looks different now
Everything that made her her is gone now
Is gone
Is returned with her sweet spirit to her God
I cannot fault her for going
This life is a journey and she has completed her journey
There are many who will greet her and lover her and she will begin her next journey
But me
I must find a new way without my mom
Not without her influence
Not without her memory
Not without her voice in my mind
But without her hugs, her physical love, her body
And without her voice in my ears
My children will forget
They will not know her
They will miss her influence
And not know that they are missing it
There is a hole where she is and was
Friends will miss her
Co-workers will replace her
They will all go on
She was not in their life every day
She is not their mother
But she is my mother
She is my friend
My advisory, my confidant
And now she is gone
She is gone
She is gone
And I am so sad
I want someone to say something
That will make it better
To make it hurt less
But there are no words
No words can make this better
I just miss her
And I am so sad
My mother is gone.
July 11, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
June 8, 2010
Puyallup Memorial Information
We have finalized the plans for the memorial for our mom. It will be held at the downtown Puyallup LDS church building. That address is 1015 13th St SW, Puyallup, WA 98371 from 1:00 - 2:30. We would love to see you there. Please pass the word along to anyone you think would like to know about the memorial.
Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers, especially for our dad. Drop him a note in the mail if you can.
We have finalized the plans for the memorial for our mom. It will be held at the downtown Puyallup LDS church building. That address is 1015 13th St SW, Puyallup, WA 98371 from 1:00 - 2:30. We would love to see you there. Please pass the word along to anyone you think would like to know about the memorial.
Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers, especially for our dad. Drop him a note in the mail if you can.
Monday, May 31, 2010
May 31, 2010
There is a memorial service planned for June 12, 2010 in Puyallup from 1:00-3:00 pm. The location is in the works but please spread the word and mark your calendar. As soon as we have a building scheduled we will post the information.
We are collecting pictures on our mom for the memorial. If you have some pics that you would like us to see, please send them to shkulin@msn.com or brandypoulsen@yahoo.com.
Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers and cards, etc.
We are collecting pictures on our mom for the memorial. If you have some pics that you would like us to see, please send them to shkulin@msn.com or brandypoulsen@yahoo.com.
Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers and cards, etc.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
May 25, 2010 Funeral Information
Mom's funeral is Friday, May 28, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. at the LDS chapel (2536 North 6th St. Cheney, WA 99004) with a viewing before starting at noon. We will proceed to the cemetery directly after the service.
Monday, May 24, 2010
May 24, 2010 at 9:30 pm
This afternoon at 3:35 pm our mother finished her mission on this earth and returned to her Heavenly Father. She passed peacefully with her family surrounding her. Right now, its hard to tell you how we feel because the feelings are still so very fresh. Know that we are so very sad and wish the world could be still for just a moment to acknowledge the passing of a special person. Our world is a different place now. This will take some adjusting to as we figure out a new normal.
Mom's first Dr. apt. was only 42 days ago and she was diagnosed with cancer 29 days ago. What did you do in the last 42 or 29 days? Life is a precious thing; don't take it for granted.
We will post funeral information as soon as plans are finalized. Let us catch our breath and we will let you know the specifics soon.
P.S. hug your mom!!
Mom's first Dr. apt. was only 42 days ago and she was diagnosed with cancer 29 days ago. What did you do in the last 42 or 29 days? Life is a precious thing; don't take it for granted.
We will post funeral information as soon as plans are finalized. Let us catch our breath and we will let you know the specifics soon.
P.S. hug your mom!!
May 24, 2010
Good Monday morning!! Its all relative, right?
Sunday, Dr. Nichols decided that they would stop doing labs on mom because we already know she is getting worse and they aren't changing her treatment or medications based on the numbers. Plus, the numbers just make us all more anxious so we don't care anymore. Although, we have all been watching the numbers when they come in to check her vitals. Her blood pressure is slowly going down and her oxygen saturation has declined. The Dr. anticipates this to be the trend through the end.
We had a long day yesterday. Many family members are still in town. We spent several hours in the room with mom just watching her breath. She is now only breathing 10-11 breaths per minute, which isn't horrible its just less (and it gives us something to do--count her breaths per minute). Some breaths take a little longer. We would sit and watch her and when she was taking a long time to breath we would wonder if that was the last one. Then should would breath again and we would relax for a minute until it happened again. It is likely we will receive a change in her responsiveness and breathing pattern as she declines.
She sleeps ALOT. But she wakes up when people come in to talk to her and knows who they are and asks appropriate questions for each person (and by appropriate, I don't mean she wants to know about their underwear. I mean she remembers who is in school, who has kids, etc.).
Heather, Brandy and Bobbi had a slumber party in mom's room. We set up 2 twin air mattersses and all three of us slept across them (spooning--just kidding). Mom has been having small muscle spasms and the hiccups so we didn't have to wake up all the way during the night to check on her. We just listened for her to make noises and then went back to sleep which means we slept like babies (awake repeatedly during the night and then falling right back to sleep).
We are trying to keep mom's room as quiet and peaceful as possible. We are kicking the 'chatty-kathys' out into the hall or the family lounge down the hall because she keeps telling us that the noise is too much. She's the boss, we just do what we're told.
We really appreciate the snacks and meals that people have brought for our family. Eating three meals a day in the cafeteria gets old really fast. Also, mom's room smells like a flower shop. We pray you and your families will be blessed for your efforts.
Last Thursday, the Dr. anticipated mom would have about another week and it looks like that will be the case. Today we are beginning preparations for her funeral.
Sunday, Dr. Nichols decided that they would stop doing labs on mom because we already know she is getting worse and they aren't changing her treatment or medications based on the numbers. Plus, the numbers just make us all more anxious so we don't care anymore. Although, we have all been watching the numbers when they come in to check her vitals. Her blood pressure is slowly going down and her oxygen saturation has declined. The Dr. anticipates this to be the trend through the end.
We had a long day yesterday. Many family members are still in town. We spent several hours in the room with mom just watching her breath. She is now only breathing 10-11 breaths per minute, which isn't horrible its just less (and it gives us something to do--count her breaths per minute). Some breaths take a little longer. We would sit and watch her and when she was taking a long time to breath we would wonder if that was the last one. Then should would breath again and we would relax for a minute until it happened again. It is likely we will receive a change in her responsiveness and breathing pattern as she declines.
She sleeps ALOT. But she wakes up when people come in to talk to her and knows who they are and asks appropriate questions for each person (and by appropriate, I don't mean she wants to know about their underwear. I mean she remembers who is in school, who has kids, etc.).
Heather, Brandy and Bobbi had a slumber party in mom's room. We set up 2 twin air mattersses and all three of us slept across them (spooning--just kidding). Mom has been having small muscle spasms and the hiccups so we didn't have to wake up all the way during the night to check on her. We just listened for her to make noises and then went back to sleep which means we slept like babies (awake repeatedly during the night and then falling right back to sleep).
We are trying to keep mom's room as quiet and peaceful as possible. We are kicking the 'chatty-kathys' out into the hall or the family lounge down the hall because she keeps telling us that the noise is too much. She's the boss, we just do what we're told.
We really appreciate the snacks and meals that people have brought for our family. Eating three meals a day in the cafeteria gets old really fast. Also, mom's room smells like a flower shop. We pray you and your families will be blessed for your efforts.
Last Thursday, the Dr. anticipated mom would have about another week and it looks like that will be the case. Today we are beginning preparations for her funeral.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
We had a very busy today, lots of family and friends from out of town. Mom's uncle Danny McGraw, Aunt Kathy, cousins Alan and Dennis McGraw are here today from Utah. Mom's sister Donna and husband Jim got here Thursday from Utah. Mom's mother-in-law, Dorothy Clark came to town yesterday from Enumclaw, WA. Mom's brother Mike and his wife, Shelley got here from Tacoma and her sister Margaret got here last night from Puyallup. Mom's mom, Gerogia McGraw got here today from Puyallup. Heather, Steve, Makenzie, Rylee and Payton flew in today from Vancouver, WA. Mom's long-time best friend, Dona Thaut got here yesterday from Puyallup. Mom and Dad's LONG-time friend Neil Himes got here today from Tacoma. Mom's aunt Gloria, uncle Dean and cousin David Haskell visited today from Chewelah, WA. Christopher, Margaret's son and his family are in town visiting his in-laws, so he was able to visit for a while. One of Brandy and Heather's friends from junior high school and long-time family friend, Sandy Gannon got here today from Graham, WA. Mom's cousin Aaron Weilert also visited today. Ceasar and AnnaMaria comes to visit and help tend the grandkids. Mom's friend from a prior job, Janine visited and brought some food. Thank you very much, yum! A friend from Brandy's work, Laurel came by with some treats, snacks, a plant and games for us. Bobbi says thanks so much for the gluten-free options! All her grandkids got some one-on-one time with Nana today. We took many pictures and video.
Mom was a bit overwhelmed by so many visitors at one time today, so when you come to visit please spend a few minutes talking to mom and then other visiting needs to be done in the visitor's room. Thank you for being so understanding.
So her labs for today are worse than yesterday, as we expeced. She is urinating very little every 12-20 hours. Kidney and liver function continue to decline, which means her blood is collecting poison instead of being cleansed by these those organs. Her potassium level (6.1 today) is the most concerning because that will soon cause irregular heartbeats. Other toxins in her blood will slow her breathing and make her more and more sleepy. Again, this means only days left.
Mom's nurses have been wonderful! They are CARING for our mother well. Her room smells like a flower shop, lovely! And the grandchildren have decorated the walls with drawings. Brandy and Heather are spending the night tonight, the 3 daughter's are taking turns sharing night shift, camping out in the floor.
PS Drive a little more carfeul and MAKE SURE your family knows you love them. Hug your mom!
Oh, how our lives have changed in 39 short days!
Mom was a bit overwhelmed by so many visitors at one time today, so when you come to visit please spend a few minutes talking to mom and then other visiting needs to be done in the visitor's room. Thank you for being so understanding.
So her labs for today are worse than yesterday, as we expeced. She is urinating very little every 12-20 hours. Kidney and liver function continue to decline, which means her blood is collecting poison instead of being cleansed by these those organs. Her potassium level (6.1 today) is the most concerning because that will soon cause irregular heartbeats. Other toxins in her blood will slow her breathing and make her more and more sleepy. Again, this means only days left.
Mom's nurses have been wonderful! They are CARING for our mother well. Her room smells like a flower shop, lovely! And the grandchildren have decorated the walls with drawings. Brandy and Heather are spending the night tonight, the 3 daughter's are taking turns sharing night shift, camping out in the floor.
PS Drive a little more carfeul and MAKE SURE your family knows you love them. Hug your mom!
Oh, how our lives have changed in 39 short days!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
May 20, 2010
We met with the Dr. again this morning and unfortunately mom is not getting any better. Her liver enzymes are still very high, which means her liver is getting worse. She has high levels of potassium which means her kidneys aren't working well. If the potassium levels can not be helped by medication her heart will be affected. The Dr. told us if she continues digressing as she has over the last 4 days in the hospital, she may have only a week to live. Isn't that a punch in the gut!! She continues to need more and more pain medication and the nausea is not being completely controlled with the 4 different medications she is taking. Mom did not tolerate her last treatment so the Dr. has advised us against continuing chemotherapy.
As the word has spread today, mom has had many visitors. Many people from her office and her ward have come. We appreciate so much all the people who have come to see her to express their appreciation for the woman she is and the example that she has been and continues to be. She has received many bouquets of flowers and wonderful notes and cards.
Many of you are making arrangements to come see her. Please continue to contact Brandy with the information for your visit including what days you plan to come and how long you plan to stay. While we are in town, I'm afraid we not really up for entertaining you. We have been spending nearly every minute of every day at the hospital with mom. Please consider this as you determine how long to stay in town to visit with our mom.
For those of you who follow this blog that are in Cheney, thank you for keeping your visits brief. Mom sleeps a lot so please don't be offended if she dozes during your visit. She does it to everyone so don't take it personal. For those of you who cannot make the trip to see mom, please know that we pass on your comments from this blog. She would also appreciate a note in the mail or email or even a short phone call.
Bobbi went home Wednesday afternoon and, after receiving todays news from the Dr, plans to return to mom's side Friday with Carrie. Heather flew home Thursday night and plans to return with her girls Friday night so the kids can spend some time with their Nana. Brandy is bringing her kids in to see mom after school Friday.
We are very sad with the recent information from the Dr. The world will be a different place without our mother. This situation is still shocking and find it amazing how quickly our lives have been changed. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.
We will continue to update this blog.
As the word has spread today, mom has had many visitors. Many people from her office and her ward have come. We appreciate so much all the people who have come to see her to express their appreciation for the woman she is and the example that she has been and continues to be. She has received many bouquets of flowers and wonderful notes and cards.
Many of you are making arrangements to come see her. Please continue to contact Brandy with the information for your visit including what days you plan to come and how long you plan to stay. While we are in town, I'm afraid we not really up for entertaining you. We have been spending nearly every minute of every day at the hospital with mom. Please consider this as you determine how long to stay in town to visit with our mom.
For those of you who follow this blog that are in Cheney, thank you for keeping your visits brief. Mom sleeps a lot so please don't be offended if she dozes during your visit. She does it to everyone so don't take it personal. For those of you who cannot make the trip to see mom, please know that we pass on your comments from this blog. She would also appreciate a note in the mail or email or even a short phone call.
Bobbi went home Wednesday afternoon and, after receiving todays news from the Dr, plans to return to mom's side Friday with Carrie. Heather flew home Thursday night and plans to return with her girls Friday night so the kids can spend some time with their Nana. Brandy is bringing her kids in to see mom after school Friday.
We are very sad with the recent information from the Dr. The world will be a different place without our mother. This situation is still shocking and find it amazing how quickly our lives have been changed. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.
We will continue to update this blog.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
So...Mom continues to have problems with nausea and vomiting and getting food to stay down. She is weak from dehydration and lack of nutrition.
Her second chemo treatment on Thursday caused increasingly worse nausea. By Friday, the increase in nausea, dehydration, and weakness have severely altered Mom's activity level. Bobbi arrived Friday night to lend a hand addressing her nausea and nutrition. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent sleeping, in pain, and in various stages of mild to terrible nausea with vomiting. All the medications were not giving her relief from the persistent nausea. Sunday evening we went to Brandy and Wade's for dinner, as usual. Mom was unable to find a way to be comfortable. She also had some yellowing of her eyes (Jaundice) that was new on Sunday. All of this was making us anxious. All the tools we had were not helping. We decided we needed to contact her doctor.
The on-call doctor advised that we take her to the ER for evaluation. We got to Sacred Heart Hospital at about 6:30 pm. They started with getting her on some IV fluids, nausea and pain medication. They took blood, urine, chest x-ray, liver ultrasound, and head CT. Heather flew in from Vancouver at about 9:00 pm.
Blood and urine tests showed her liver and kidneys are stressed. Elevated liver enzymes told us why her eyes are yellow and her urine is dark, like iced tea color. The chest x-ray was good, no problems with her lungs or heart. The liver ultrasound showed she has gal stones, but we knew that from a CT scan a few weeks ago. The CT of her head was normal. There is a brain (he he!!) with no tumors, no cancer!
She is still in the hospital at Sacred Heart in Spokane. The plan is to continue to hydrate her, giver her medications to TRY to control her nausea, and get some food in her when we can. So fat, this has been difficult! The IV fluids are helping her feel better, but the nausea meds help most of the time. She is still vomiting everyday and only able to eat a little jell-o and broth and juice. Her demeanor and activity level are very changed. She sleeps, walks to the bathroom, sits up to the table for meals and dozes a lot.
We try our best to keep her smiling and entertained. Ron, Heather and Bobbi stay with her all day. We take turns leaving early at night and coming in early in the next day and staying late and coming in to the hostpital a little later. Brandy got a promotion last week (yeah!! yahoo! Congrats!) so she comes before and after work. Wade comes after work as well. Her bishop visited Monday evening and gave her a blessing of comfort. She has had some visitors. A few ladies from her work brought her some flowers and raspberries. Also, a few ladies from Dad's work stopped by Tuesday with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She does get calls from friends and family. That is fine. Please only call in the afternoon or early evening. Getting enough sleep at night is still quite difficult. (that is code for if you call in the morning and wake her up our dad will be really mad!)
Today, Wednesday, we met with Dr. Joni Nichols, mom's oncologist. We talked about another nausea treatment. Its a patch that is put behind her ear and left in place for 3 days. We will back off on food, continuing with clear liquids as she seems to tolerate that better. She has terrible edema or water retention from her feet to above her waist. The IV fluids are leaking out of her vessels (where we need it to prevent dehydration) causing all this edema. Doctor said we can try to get rid of some of this fluid "third spacing" or water retention gently, so we don't dehydrate her further. Hydration is most important, food is not so important. Food feeds the cancer too. We are correcting the high calcium level with some IV meds. Hopefully this will help the nausea as well. She needs to get long-term IV access that will allow blood draws with no extra pokes and allow fluids and meds whenever she needs it, even at home.
This week will be her 'off week' for chemo and we will discuss whether or not to start the next set of treatments next week. She still feels weak and chemo will make it worse. Hopefully next week she will have more energy, be hydrated and not so nauseated!!
Her second chemo treatment on Thursday caused increasingly worse nausea. By Friday, the increase in nausea, dehydration, and weakness have severely altered Mom's activity level. Bobbi arrived Friday night to lend a hand addressing her nausea and nutrition. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent sleeping, in pain, and in various stages of mild to terrible nausea with vomiting. All the medications were not giving her relief from the persistent nausea. Sunday evening we went to Brandy and Wade's for dinner, as usual. Mom was unable to find a way to be comfortable. She also had some yellowing of her eyes (Jaundice) that was new on Sunday. All of this was making us anxious. All the tools we had were not helping. We decided we needed to contact her doctor.
The on-call doctor advised that we take her to the ER for evaluation. We got to Sacred Heart Hospital at about 6:30 pm. They started with getting her on some IV fluids, nausea and pain medication. They took blood, urine, chest x-ray, liver ultrasound, and head CT. Heather flew in from Vancouver at about 9:00 pm.
Blood and urine tests showed her liver and kidneys are stressed. Elevated liver enzymes told us why her eyes are yellow and her urine is dark, like iced tea color. The chest x-ray was good, no problems with her lungs or heart. The liver ultrasound showed she has gal stones, but we knew that from a CT scan a few weeks ago. The CT of her head was normal. There is a brain (he he!!) with no tumors, no cancer!
She is still in the hospital at Sacred Heart in Spokane. The plan is to continue to hydrate her, giver her medications to TRY to control her nausea, and get some food in her when we can. So fat, this has been difficult! The IV fluids are helping her feel better, but the nausea meds help most of the time. She is still vomiting everyday and only able to eat a little jell-o and broth and juice. Her demeanor and activity level are very changed. She sleeps, walks to the bathroom, sits up to the table for meals and dozes a lot.
We try our best to keep her smiling and entertained. Ron, Heather and Bobbi stay with her all day. We take turns leaving early at night and coming in early in the next day and staying late and coming in to the hostpital a little later. Brandy got a promotion last week (yeah!! yahoo! Congrats!) so she comes before and after work. Wade comes after work as well. Her bishop visited Monday evening and gave her a blessing of comfort. She has had some visitors. A few ladies from her work brought her some flowers and raspberries. Also, a few ladies from Dad's work stopped by Tuesday with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She does get calls from friends and family. That is fine. Please only call in the afternoon or early evening. Getting enough sleep at night is still quite difficult. (that is code for if you call in the morning and wake her up our dad will be really mad!)
Today, Wednesday, we met with Dr. Joni Nichols, mom's oncologist. We talked about another nausea treatment. Its a patch that is put behind her ear and left in place for 3 days. We will back off on food, continuing with clear liquids as she seems to tolerate that better. She has terrible edema or water retention from her feet to above her waist. The IV fluids are leaking out of her vessels (where we need it to prevent dehydration) causing all this edema. Doctor said we can try to get rid of some of this fluid "third spacing" or water retention gently, so we don't dehydrate her further. Hydration is most important, food is not so important. Food feeds the cancer too. We are correcting the high calcium level with some IV meds. Hopefully this will help the nausea as well. She needs to get long-term IV access that will allow blood draws with no extra pokes and allow fluids and meds whenever she needs it, even at home.
This week will be her 'off week' for chemo and we will discuss whether or not to start the next set of treatments next week. She still feels weak and chemo will make it worse. Hopefully next week she will have more energy, be hydrated and not so nauseated!!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
May 15, 2010
This has been a challenging week for Mom. She started chemo last Thursday and did pretty well that evening and Friday. Then her energy started to wind down. She is having a hard time eating and drinking because her liver is so enlarged it is squishing her stomach. She is tired but worked all day Monday thru Wednesday this week. Thursday was her second chemo treatment and it really tired her out. She met with a nutritionist after her chemo appointment. That was lots of good information and good ideas to make eating and drinking easier. Having two appointments in one day was too much though. We are going to work on helping Mom take things a little at a time. She isn't used to pacing herself nor is she used to not having the energy she's accustom too. Hopefully soon we can update that she's working half days.
She is going to start drinking two high calorie meal replacement drinks daily along with small, nutritious, high liquid content snacks and meals to try to boost her hydration. If we can help her eat and drink a bit more she will feel better and have more energy simply because there will be more available energy.
Bobbi is here for a few days to help Dad and Brandy get her meal plan organized. We're trying to help both Mom and Dad to be prepared with meals and snacks and other things in the house that will help boost Mom's hydration and calorie intake. Having a plan helps that be less work and less last minute re-acting.
One of Mom's neighbors and ward members came over on Wednesday evening and gave her a foot massage. Mom enjoyed that. Her feet are very swollen from her chemo. She said "it was a little short but nice" which makes me think we may need to do that for her a little more regularly.
Dad is being his normal worried self. He watches her close and doesn't leave her alone much. He is comforted to know that the people Mom works with are also helping and watching her while she's there. I know that makes letting her go to work it a little easier for him. He is a worrier and we're trying to also help him have a break here and there. Sometimes it's harder to convince him to take a break than it is to come up with a suggestion of what to do. The sun has been shining all week and his motorcycle is a good outlet. Wade is a good help in that department.
She is going to start drinking two high calorie meal replacement drinks daily along with small, nutritious, high liquid content snacks and meals to try to boost her hydration. If we can help her eat and drink a bit more she will feel better and have more energy simply because there will be more available energy.
Bobbi is here for a few days to help Dad and Brandy get her meal plan organized. We're trying to help both Mom and Dad to be prepared with meals and snacks and other things in the house that will help boost Mom's hydration and calorie intake. Having a plan helps that be less work and less last minute re-acting.
One of Mom's neighbors and ward members came over on Wednesday evening and gave her a foot massage. Mom enjoyed that. Her feet are very swollen from her chemo. She said "it was a little short but nice" which makes me think we may need to do that for her a little more regularly.
Dad is being his normal worried self. He watches her close and doesn't leave her alone much. He is comforted to know that the people Mom works with are also helping and watching her while she's there. I know that makes letting her go to work it a little easier for him. He is a worrier and we're trying to also help him have a break here and there. Sometimes it's harder to convince him to take a break than it is to come up with a suggestion of what to do. The sun has been shining all week and his motorcycle is a good outlet. Wade is a good help in that department.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
5-12-2010
This blog is for you to keep up on our mom's condition without her house getting 20 calls a day. Rest is often difficult for her and ringing phones don't help. Heather, Brandy and Bobbi will make efforts to update this blog frequently so everyone who wants to can stay in the loop.
So this all started with mom having a lot of abdominal pain and nausea around the beginning of April. She went to the doctor because it wasn't going away. The blood tests showed her liver was stressed. These symptoms often go along with gal stones so they did an ultrasound. They found her liver was quite enlarged and had lots of lesions in various sizes. Ultrasounds are not specific enough to say what the lesions were so she got a CT scan. It showed innumerable tumors in varying sizes scattered throughout her liver. It appears that these cancer cells came from someplace else because they are scattered through the liver, like they got stuck in several places along the process of the liver filtering her blood.
She had a liver biopsy Thursday, April 22nd. Results on Monday from her doctor said cancer and she was referred to an oncology specialist at Northwest Cancer Care in Spokane. She saw Dr. Nichols on Wednesday, April 28th.
The biopsy on those tumors has diagnosed her with adenocarcinoma, which is a pretty generic diagnosis and still does not point to a specific place in her body. Adenocarcinoma means "a cancer that starts inside a gland." There are glands in many areas of the body (for example, breast, lung, uterus, bowel, stomach), and quite often a cancer in an organ begins inside a gland within that organ. Glands are particularly likely to develop a cancer for two main reasons. First, glands are subjected to influences from the outside environment (for example, cigarette smoke affects the glands in the lungs) and also from the inside environment (for example, glands in the breast and the uterus are under the influence of the body's hormones). Second, the cells in glands multiply very frequently, so that faults in their growth control may appear more quickly than in other tissues. Hence adeno-carcinomas are relatively common type of cancer. (What You Really Need to Know about Cancer, p. 327)
Many tests have not shown where the primary tumor is. The doctor says it may be tiny and not causing any trouble. They may find it at some point or not. Because the doctor is unable to find the primary point of the cancer, she is not eligible for a liver transplant.
Right now the priority is her liver. She has had 2 CT scans less than 2 weeks apart and the tumors have visibly increased in size. She will begin chemotherapy (May 6) in hopes of decreasing the size of the tumors to extend her life and shrink the size of her liver making her more comfortable. She has chemotherapy once a week for three weeks and then one week off. Initially, she plans to go through 2 sessions of chemo and then the doctor will do further tests to see if the tumors in her liver have gotten smaller.
We have all (mom, dad, Heather, Brandy and Bobbi) visited with mom's doctor and asked a lot of questions. The bottom line is that her condition is not curable. She will die of cancer or complications from the cancer. We do not know how long she has left. Everything depends on her body's response to the chemotherapy. If chemo helps, the tumors may decrease in size to the point that they can locally treat specific tumors by surgery and may give her more time.
Mom is struggling everyday with pain. Because her liver is so enlarged it pushes on her stomach and makes it difficult to eat and drink fluids. Her pain medication makes life difficult because she can't drive, and the meds make her tired so she doesn't like to take too much. She is still working and plans to work as long as she can because "what else would I do except sit home all day being bored." Her office is being very supportive and patient as she is able to do less work or does the work but much slower than in the past.
We appreciate all of your love and support and especially your prayers and fasting.
If you want to come see our mom, please contact Brandy by cell phone 509-981-5950 or email at brandypoulsen@yahoo.com. She is mom's social coordinator. That may sound funny or excessive, but too bad. She's our mom. Since Brandy lives so close, she knows daily how mom is feeling and can make decisions about visitors and the number of people who can visit at one time. Mom tires quickly and needs to rest when she can. Please come for the day or plan to stay at a motel/hotel when you visit so her time can be spent visiting instead of cooking and cleaning for guests. Please respect this arrangement.
We plan to organize a get together once a month so that friends that don’t live in Cheney can come and spend some time with mom during a weekend. They will be potluck in nature and at Brandy’s house. The details will be posted to this blog.
Please feel free to make comments or drop a note to mom. We will see that she gets each one!
If you sign up to be a follower on the blog, you will be notified when an update is posted.
So this all started with mom having a lot of abdominal pain and nausea around the beginning of April. She went to the doctor because it wasn't going away. The blood tests showed her liver was stressed. These symptoms often go along with gal stones so they did an ultrasound. They found her liver was quite enlarged and had lots of lesions in various sizes. Ultrasounds are not specific enough to say what the lesions were so she got a CT scan. It showed innumerable tumors in varying sizes scattered throughout her liver. It appears that these cancer cells came from someplace else because they are scattered through the liver, like they got stuck in several places along the process of the liver filtering her blood.
She had a liver biopsy Thursday, April 22nd. Results on Monday from her doctor said cancer and she was referred to an oncology specialist at Northwest Cancer Care in Spokane. She saw Dr. Nichols on Wednesday, April 28th.
The biopsy on those tumors has diagnosed her with adenocarcinoma, which is a pretty generic diagnosis and still does not point to a specific place in her body. Adenocarcinoma means "a cancer that starts inside a gland." There are glands in many areas of the body (for example, breast, lung, uterus, bowel, stomach), and quite often a cancer in an organ begins inside a gland within that organ. Glands are particularly likely to develop a cancer for two main reasons. First, glands are subjected to influences from the outside environment (for example, cigarette smoke affects the glands in the lungs) and also from the inside environment (for example, glands in the breast and the uterus are under the influence of the body's hormones). Second, the cells in glands multiply very frequently, so that faults in their growth control may appear more quickly than in other tissues. Hence adeno-carcinomas are relatively common type of cancer. (What You Really Need to Know about Cancer, p. 327)
Many tests have not shown where the primary tumor is. The doctor says it may be tiny and not causing any trouble. They may find it at some point or not. Because the doctor is unable to find the primary point of the cancer, she is not eligible for a liver transplant.
Right now the priority is her liver. She has had 2 CT scans less than 2 weeks apart and the tumors have visibly increased in size. She will begin chemotherapy (May 6) in hopes of decreasing the size of the tumors to extend her life and shrink the size of her liver making her more comfortable. She has chemotherapy once a week for three weeks and then one week off. Initially, she plans to go through 2 sessions of chemo and then the doctor will do further tests to see if the tumors in her liver have gotten smaller.
We have all (mom, dad, Heather, Brandy and Bobbi) visited with mom's doctor and asked a lot of questions. The bottom line is that her condition is not curable. She will die of cancer or complications from the cancer. We do not know how long she has left. Everything depends on her body's response to the chemotherapy. If chemo helps, the tumors may decrease in size to the point that they can locally treat specific tumors by surgery and may give her more time.
Mom is struggling everyday with pain. Because her liver is so enlarged it pushes on her stomach and makes it difficult to eat and drink fluids. Her pain medication makes life difficult because she can't drive, and the meds make her tired so she doesn't like to take too much. She is still working and plans to work as long as she can because "what else would I do except sit home all day being bored." Her office is being very supportive and patient as she is able to do less work or does the work but much slower than in the past.
We appreciate all of your love and support and especially your prayers and fasting.
If you want to come see our mom, please contact Brandy by cell phone 509-981-5950 or email at brandypoulsen@yahoo.com. She is mom's social coordinator. That may sound funny or excessive, but too bad. She's our mom. Since Brandy lives so close, she knows daily how mom is feeling and can make decisions about visitors and the number of people who can visit at one time. Mom tires quickly and needs to rest when she can. Please come for the day or plan to stay at a motel/hotel when you visit so her time can be spent visiting instead of cooking and cleaning for guests. Please respect this arrangement.
We plan to organize a get together once a month so that friends that don’t live in Cheney can come and spend some time with mom during a weekend. They will be potluck in nature and at Brandy’s house. The details will be posted to this blog.
Please feel free to make comments or drop a note to mom. We will see that she gets each one!
If you sign up to be a follower on the blog, you will be notified when an update is posted.
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