Welcome to our CaringBridge website. 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.
Heidi and I will be updating this site regularly as there is news on our mom, Toni. Prayers, good thoughts and words of encouragement left here will be seen by Toni. Please know how much these kind words mean to her.
In September 2019 Toni started experiencing symptoms of extreme digestive discomfort and not being able to eat many foods. Over the course of the last few months she has been diagnosed with Pancreatitis, gall bladder malfunction, liver issues to finally pancreatic cancer.
Her symptoms worsened and changed over this time as well to include only tolerating a liquid diet, extreme fatigue, rash, reflux and jaundice to name a few.
Her tumor is at the head of the pancreas and was determined inoperable due to its size. Chemotherapy was determined her best option for tumor shrinkage. Testing in March showed that the chemo had shrunk her tumor in 1/2! It was then decided that another round of chemo would help her cancer markers and keep the cancer from spreading. In October 2020 she was reassessed for surgery. The cancer markers were down and the tumor has not spread or grown since March. Unfortunately, 2 independent surgery teams (one in Sacramento and another at UCSF) deemed the tumor inoperable due to its close proximity to vital arteries. In November 2020 she started a 6 week radiation/chemo treatment. This will hopefully shock the tumor and keep it from growing. After this treatment ends (12/11/2020) she will most likely be out of Western medicine options.
We pray for the best and prepare for the worst. With the onset of COVID-19 it has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that my mom can relax and not feel the pressure to receive guests or go out when she is feeling poorly. A curse in that she loves to get out, shop and eat out. It has also impeded Heidi and me to be able to visit and help as much as we would like.
Thank you for visiting this page. My mom reads all of the notes, so please leave a note of encouragement for her!
CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey. Learn more about CaringBridge.
