Jane Rundle

Hello everyone. Our Mom, Jane, was been dealing with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) for several years and has been on supplemental oxygen. She had a hoarse voice in June and went to the doctor. In early July it was determined that she had developed tumors in her lungs. She underwent further testing (lung biopsy, brain scan, PetScan) and everything pointed to aggressive stage 4 lung cancer. The type of cancer she has would not respond to a cancer pill or immunotherapy. Her only option was chemotherapy which could extend her life but negatively impact her quality of life. She chose not to pursue chemo. She continued living her life as she wished and this included her volunteering at the Sheriff's and Friday lunch with the ladies.



On October 12, after lunch with the ladies, all four of her kids (Peter, Jennie, Matt & Scott) accompanied her to her Palliative Care appointment at Kaiser. During that visit it was determined it was time to enroll in hospice. By so doing, she would get care at home and no longer have to travel to Fontana for her doctor appointments. After the appointment, we were joined by Scott's wife Michelle, and their two kids, Ryan and Jake. Jennie's husband Larry was also there as Jennie and Larry had flown down from Washington for the weekend. We all went to dinner which was a boisterous time at In N' Out. Peter took Mom home and got her all set up for the night.



Sometime during the night there was a short power outage and Mom's oxygen concentrator turned off; it did not turn back on when the power came back on. Jennie & Michelle were headed to Mom's on Saturday morning to help her with her chores. Scott called Mom and she asked him to get Peter over there to help with her oxygen. Peter lives the closest and he was there ASAP. He got her hooked back up and her machine turned on and then Jen & Michelle arrived. Michelle was great in helping Mom get her oxygen levels stabilized. We ended up calling 911 and soon there were a swarm of folks helping Mom get stabilized. Once stabilized, she declined a trip to the hospital. Peter, Michelle and Jen stayed with her all day and checked in on her all day long. In the early evening Mom requested to go to the hospital because she was not bouncing back. We called 911 again and she was transported to Foothill Presbyterian in Glendora where she has been ever since.


We have struggled with balancing her desire for independency and privacy vs. letting people know what's going on. Mom has been clear in asking us to reach out to her friends and family to let them know the power outage did a number on her. This is going to sound crazy, but we ask that you don't mention "cancer" if you have the opportunity to talk to her directly.



Mom does not want visitors at this time; however, if you leave a comment, we are reading them out loud to her. She still has her keen sense of humor and is more worried about everyone else than herself. We are using CaringBridge to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for loving our Mom so much!



--Peter, Jennie, Matt, Scott