Gwen AKA "Fish" Chubb Keep Swimming Fish

Welcome to Fish's caring swimming pool! 😉 Come swim along with her on her journey to better health!

For those of you that know our mom, she is feisty, has awesome humor, a huge heart with a whole lot of love to give others! For those of you who don't know that her nickname is "FISH"... now you do and she loves the nickname!
This CaringBridge website will be used to tell her story and keep family and friends updated in one place. In January, she was visiting me a (Courtney) and my family in El Paso, Texas. Before Jerry made it down so they could try "wintering out of Minnesota" for the first time, she ended up getting very sick with pneumonia. She was admitted into the hospital on her birthday of all days - January 28, 2020. She was in the hospital for 14 days. Near the middle of her stay, her doctors did a thoracentesis - a fluid drain from her lungs. They were hoping to give her a more precise medication to tackle the pneumonia. When the results came back, the pathology results indicated cancer cells found in her lung fluid. We, as a family, were all very blindsided to say the least. We rallied around her and got her to the end of her hospital stay. Once her hospital stay came to an end, she was sent home with us to finish recouping with her intravenous antibiotics that I administered for an additional week. As soon as Fish was well enough to travel home, Jerry made all sorts of arrangements for the to travel back to Minnesota. After a couple of wheelchair rides through connecting airports and a loving ride home from my brother (Jeremy), Fish made it back to her comfy pond. Jerry and my mom began working with an oncologist upon returning to MN. She had a PET scan done in MN that came back "inconclusive" and several other scans that to no avail, (over a couple of months) and through a few panels of doctors, the cancer could not be found. We thought we were given a misdiagnosis on the lung cancer... UNTIL this past month. Fish began having unbearable abdominal pains. Poor Fish took yet another trip to the hospital for some answers. After a few CT scans were completed an appointment with a reproductive oncologist was set. She and Jerry visited with Dr. O'Shae with the University of Minnesota Cancer Center on August 10, 2020. Six months and five days after the initial (lung) cancer diagnosis, my mom was now presented with an Ovarian Cancer diagnosis. We do not know (yet) if there is a connection between February's diagnosis and the August diagnosis. What we do know is this... Dr. O'Shae is motivated to figure things out with determination, guidance and straight forward communication with Jerry and my mom. My parents are both feeling comfortable and confident in Dr. O'Shae. 
Today, Fish had a biopsy done. Now we will wait for several days (possibly 5-7 days) for more specific answers for the next steps. For now, Dr. O'Shae has put my mom in for her first chemotherapy appointment for Monday, August 31, 2020.
Fish is home with Jerry now and has had a good day after her procedure. I visited with her on FaceTime and shared pictures and information about her CaringBridge page. The picture of her and the fish was one that brought many laughs and a very big smile to her face.
Our mom is full of many wonderful traits, one of which is the ability to put on her "game face" when presented with a challenge. In other words, she is ready to kick cancer right square in the face or ass, whichever she is in the mood for on any given day! 😂 She will determine that as the days present themselves. In the meantime, we as a family, appreciate your prayers, text messages (even if she may not always respond), calls, support and your words of hope and encouragement. One of us (Jill, Jeremy, Jackie or myself) will be sure to update when we have more information. Thank you so much for visiting. Remember to leave Fish some messages to... Keep Her Swimming!!! 

On behalf of our family...
Lots of Love, 
Courtney