Marian Potter

Hello family and friends. Well Mom has weathered some tough battles in the past, but this looks like her toughest fight.  We are using this site to keep family and friends updated in one place. You are encouraged to share it with others who would be interested. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. Bob

Update September 29th:

This is probably as much of a shock to you as it has been to us as a family.  We went on a family cruise in August  to Montreal through Nova Scotia and down to Boston and had a great time. Mom had been having a few problems, but nothing unusual. Last Friday Mom wasn't feeling well and looked different, so we went to the emergency room, mainly for shortness of breath. They admitted her for that, but discovered there was bleeding somewhere which might have been the cause of the breathing problem.  After an endoscopy, they thought they found the problem in her esophagus, and thought they had isolated the issue, however she was getting worse. They then did a CT of the lungs and discovered some possible tumors on the liver. The following day they did a CT of the abdomen and confirmed what was likely stage 4 metastatic cancer. They can only confirm with a biopsy, which we chose to deny. Mom would much prefer to avoid any additional tests and interventions. 

She went through two very difficult days of nausea etc but finally yesterday she turned the corner on that issue. Now she is just trying to get all the vital
functions working. In the meantime the family is all in or coming in today and tomorrow to help Mom in whatever is ahead in the next days. She is still processing all this herself, and because of her very weak condition, is more or less conscious of what is going on. 

We are very grateful to our team at John Muir hospital, especially the nurses, who are our angels. We will update the site as often as we have
information that you would find helpful. In the meantime, we will share all your thoughts with Mom, and know you would all like to talk with her in person. This is our best alternative to that.  Mary Jo