Barb’s Story

Site created on July 1, 2020

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.


We’re deeply saddened to share that Barb was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the end of May 2020. 

Barb had been dealing with back pain for a while and it was progressively getting worse. Anybody who knows Barb knows she doesn’t go to the doctor. Well, with a strong suggestion from her family she finally went in. After a few scans they found a 5cm cancerous tumor on her pancreas.   

Since the diagnosis our biggest struggle has been managing her pain. We were unable to manage it at home with oral medications. In mid June she was admitted into the hospital and ended up staying for a week. With the help of a team of doctors, we’ve been able to find medications to help keep her comfortable at home! 

Her oncologist and cancer care team developed a treatment plan for her, which would involve chemo and surgery. Yesterday, July 1st, was day one of Chemotherapy. The ultimate goal would be to shrink the tumor with the chemo to eventually surgically remove it.... let the journey begin. 

Dickie has turned into her nurse over the last few months and he’s kicking ass! The other day, Barb said, “good ol’ Dickie, he’s my soldier.”  That guy can do anything, he’s unstoppable! 

Lastly, and most importantly, Barb... she’s hanging in there. She spends most days resting and distracting herself by watching Lifetime movies. Don’t worry, with everything going on, she has still managed to enjoy a few glasses of wine. She also would like to go to the casino at some point.  As for now,  as cliche as it sounds, everyday is a new day. We just take it day by day.

We know our mom is loved by so many. She has a big family, and lots of friends! We thought a Caring Bridge would be the best way to keep everybody updated on her journey. We know how shocking and sad this whole situation is. Out of respect for Barb, we ask that everybody lets her rest and please don’t bombard her with phone calls and texts. It would be best to reach out to her on here, or on her Facebook. She is very exhausted and not up for visitors or phone calls at this time. Please keep her in your prayers!!

Stay tuned. 

Newest Update

Journal entry by Katie Lowell

Hello friends and family, 

I’ve been wanting to update you all over the last month to let you know how things were going. It was a very challenging month watching our mom battle this awful cancer.  

I’m so sad to say, our dear mom passed on Saturday afternoon (February 6th). She fought so damn hard the last 6 months. She is finally out of pain and no longer suffering. We know she is in heaven and watching down on all of us. She passed away peacefully in her own bed. Dickie was right by her side when she took her last breath. We all miss her so much already and can’t even imagine what life is going to be like without her physical presence. 
I do know that Barb would not want us to be sad about her passing. She would want us to celebrate her! We will continue to do that until we meet her again. 

Covid has really made it challenging to arrange an appropriate funeral. As the details unravel I will continue to keep you updated. Thank you all so much for all of your prayers and encouragement throughout this whole journey!

 Love you all. 
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