Welcome to our Family Blog!

Thank you for all of your prayers, thoughts, and concerns. I have created this blog to keep my mom's family and friends updated on how she is doing. You all know that on August 8, 2008, my mom was diagnosed with Mixed Mullerian Sarcoma. A few weeks later, she had a total hysterectomy, and we were devastated to learn that the tumor in her uterus had expanded her entire uterus, and had spread to other parts of her body. The surgeon gave us the news that she would probably only live for 5-6 months. She began chemo at the beginning of October. The chemo worked a little bit on the cancer in her bones, but it didn't have much of an effect on some of the tumors in her abdomen. So, they upped the regimen and added a new medicine to stop the blood flow to the tumors. We aren't sure if that worked, or not, because my mom had a large open wound on her abdomen because of the surgery that she had back in August- it wasn't stapled properly, and infection after infection caused it to get bigger and bigger. The chemo was also preventing it from healing. 

In December, her blood counts were dangerously out of whack, she was suffering from C. Diff (sp?) and she spent the week before Christmas in the hospital. She had a blood transfusion and massive doses of antibiotics, and she was able to spend Christmas at home with us. The doctors decided to stop chemo for a while to let the wound make some progress. She had a few more procedures to try to help that process, which were working, but my mom still has quite the wound on her stomach. She has had a Wound Vac attached that she has had to take to the Wound Clinic three times a week, where she fostered some very positive relationships with the nurses there. My dad has been very diligent in taking care of her and had the chance to spend two weeks with her on a road trip back east, where my mom felt relatively well. She began going downhill on their way home. A few days after they got home, my dad took her to the ER and she was hooked up to antibiotics for the day, and sent home. They also did a scan of her abdomen and they found that the tumors had grown. Her stomach has been extremely distended and very uncomfortable. She ended up back in the ER on Friday (April 10), and we knew that things weren't looking good. They admitted her into the Intermediate Care Unit, where she received quite intensive care. Her vital signs became more regular, and they changed her room to the oncology floor. They had done another scan on Friday, and we learned that the tumors had grown significantly, even from the scan they had done four days before. She knew then that this was the beginning of the end. 

Her kidneys have started to fail and her stomach is getting more and more distended, even after they had drained a total of 6 1/2 liters of fluid from it. Dr. Tudor, her oncologist, visited her in the hospital Monday morning and told her (and my dad, Tracy, and I who were with her) that her kidneys are going, her tumors are growing, and they can't find the source of the infection that's causing her white blood count to grow exponentially. He told her that in a few days she would go into a coma and slip away peacefully. So, we decided to bring her home so she could be more comfortable. She has been home and we have had lots and lots of visitors. We love having you come and visit, but my mom is so weak and sick that she can barely keep her eyes open. Her mouth is too dry for her to speak comfortably, and she doesn't want anyone to worry about her. She's not afraid of what is coming because she was told that she won't be in too much pain. We keep up on her pain meds, but it's becoming too difficult for her to swallow pills, so we are waiting for an order from the doctor to have a morphine pump attached. 

She can hear us and does respond to us, so if there are any messages you'd like for any of us to pass along to her, please post a comment. We'd love to hear of any memories you have of Mom. We have been so blessed to have her as our mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend. We have been surrounded by loving family and have all had the chance to say our goodbyes. We have been blessed by so many people who care for our mom.