Welcome to our CaringBridge website for Patty Parker Moncrief. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. A few friends will be helping Ed keep friends and family updated through this site. CaringBridge names this section "Patty's Story". Her "story" is so much bigger and brighter than these past 28 months but yes...following is Patty's "story" from the past 2+ years presented in excerpts from Ed's journal.
05/08/2015: We made big plans for Mother’s day weekend. However, Patty was having cognitive issues, and had an episode at Alaina's soccer game. By Sunday, her spells had progressed to the point that we prepared to take her to the emergency room. As Phyllis and I helped her down the stairs, she had a Grand Mal seizure. She spent two days in the critical care unit and ended up staying about a week at St. Joe Hospital. The diagnosis was everything from hyponatremia to epilepsy. It took months to discover that she had an inoperable Astrocytoma. In other words, a grade 2 brain tumor on her right temporal lobe. We looked at Duke and Emory and decided to stay local for treatment. Friday after Thanksgiving (2015), we completed her 6 weeks of Radiation coupled with Temodar Chemo treatments. As we approached the Christmas holiday, Patty was responding well to treatment and looking forward to getting our life back to normal; to resume driving and eventually, start back to work.
01/31/2017: We celebrated Patty’s 50th birthday. Eddie and I pulled together a short video of old pictures, her many achievements, and brief clips of admiration and encouragement from many of her friends. We enjoyed reminiscing about her amazing gymnastic career, her spunk and good humor, but what stands out to me is how many real close friends she’s made over the years. Although her symptoms have grown worse, her hope, humor and passion are unending. Patty's 50th Birthday video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIU3ulZaujQ&t=152s 07/04/2017: Our Life has changed dramatically. Patty’s Astrocytoma changed to a Glioblastoma Multiforme grade 4. She has very limited capabilities; similar in nature to my Mother’s Alzheimer’s. Although she suffers from short term memory loss, she can recall details of high-school, college, “Savannah days”; and play dates at the Branches. Every side effect for a Merck med and every counterpart she ever came in contact with as a life-long Merck employee cannot escape her recall. But daily routines present challenges. The girls are having a difficult time adjusting to the current state of affairs and the struggles levied upon our lives.
08/04/2017: I am in Hilton Head with Sophia and friends, Patty couldn’t make the trip. I reflect back to a devotional I wrote in 2013 for Dad/Mom on their 56th anniversary; and the anguish he must have experienced with my mother in late stages of her illness (Alzheimer's Disease). How relevant it now seems.
09/13/2017: This is Patty's favorite time of year....Auburn Football, our wedding anniversary (10/10/98) and the coming holidays. She loved to cook, we loved her cooking...for family gatherings, both here and in my sister's home. All the things she loves most about this season, but she's not able to participate. At times she seems very much at peace, friends around her, and enjoying the moment. Other times she's agitated and at a loss, with that determined grimace on her face as if it's up to her to right the ship. It is difficult for us all, but she does not seem to be in much pain. She's hanging on.....
