Shirley Bader

Since Christmas, Shirley has been sick with a bad cough and shortness of breath, among other things.  The doctors put her on several rounds of antibiotics for pneumonia, did a heart scan to check for blockage (her heart was strong and healthy) and put her back on antibiotics.  She still was not improving.  Shirley and John finally called the doctor and asked to have Shirley admitted to the hospital.  Once there, they ran a bunch of test, put her on large doses of antibiotics and pain meds and decided to drain the fluid off her lungs and have it evaluated.  As they tests results started coming in, the doctors found that Shirley had nodules all over her lungs, a "mass" on her lungs, spots all over her liver and swollen lymph nodes near her lungs.  The fluid on her lungs came back positive for cancer.  With all the information, the doctors officially diagnosed her with Stage Four Lung Cancer.  This means, no cure and "no more than a year".  Shirley is still in the hospital.  At this point our goals are comfort.  Shirley is currently sleeping a lot as we try to find pain meds to keep her comfortable.  Breathing is difficult as well.  For these reasons, we are asking for no visitors.  We are hoping that once we get her home, she will be better able to handle visits.  To keep her room quiet and calmer, we are also requesting those who want to contact Shirley and John for updates, concerns, or questions, to please contact either Monica or Barb for the time being.  If you need our contact information, let us know.   We really appreciate all of your concern and prayers and support and your patience as we work to get Shirley strong and comfortable enough to bring her home.  We will work to update this site as often as possible (our goal is daily or every other day) and let everyone know the moment Shirley is home and ready for visitors.  In the meantime, when Shirley does wake up for a few minutes here and there, we read her all of the comments to her from friends and family praying for her and wishing her well.  She enjoys knowing she is not in this battle alone!  Feel free to leave comments for Shirley on here and we will make sure she sees them!