It’s been awhile since our last post, and we apologize for the lack of communication. Gwen wanted to keep updates close to the chest as we neared the end, and we had our full focus on loving her and soaking up the time we had left.
On Christmas Eve, Gwen suffered a seizure out of the blue while at home with Tori and Lydia. After a trip to the ER, the doctors seemed to think that the most likely source of seizures was platinum based medication, i.e. this was a side effect of the Folfox chemo.
Fast forward several weeks, and the seizures didn’t stop, eventually leading us to admit Gwen into the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute inpatient care on February 10th, where she was receiving her clinical trial. After several days without receiving the tests we thought necessary, we moved to Vanderbilt with our care team at the Ingram Cancer Center on February 13th.
A CT scan showed that Gwen’s cancer had spread to her brain, something considered incredibly rare for this type of cancer, and a further MRI showed that there were as many as 5 separate large brain lesions, with several smaller lesions. Brain tumors effectively disqualify you from all clinical trials, and we were faced with the inevitability that we had exhausted all options, and that it was time to prioritize comfort and acceptance over continuing the fight.
As we moved to the Vanderbilt Palliative Care Unit in order to focus on making Gwen more comfortable, family and friends poured in from all over the country, and Gwen began her final race of life in the most Gwen fashion possible. For two weeks, Gwen wanted her people near her, but she wanted them to party. We played Jenga over some of her favorite beers, had friends FaceTime in to play us Grateful Dead songs, searched diligently for Nashville's best cinnamon roll, ate Ben and Jerry's banana splits, reminisced about old times (including some classic inappropriate Gwen stories) and pulled out old photo albums. They were some of the most beautiful moments of any of our lives, and we are so grateful we could have that time.
As family and friends said their goodbyes to head back home, Gwen was moved to hospice on February 26th. Once in hospice, she truly began to decline, and we stayed by her side to enjoy what few moments we could in between naps. Important note: Gwen exclusively ate Five Daughters Cronuts and Godiva chocolate truffles in her final days.
Gwenthian Joan Hewitt crossed her final finish line at 1:53 AM on March 11, 2020, surrounded by her three daughters. She was 57 years old.
We have not organized any services at this time, and they will likely take place later this spring or summer in Memphis. Please send all the love you can muster to her three beautiful daughters, who she fought cancer as hard as she could to be with. They may not respond to everyone, but they are reading your kind words and are feeling the love.
