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. Mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer 2/14/2003. She underwent chemo, radiation, lumpectomy, bilateral mastectomy, followed by delayed reconstruction. She had clear follow up scans each year thereafter. During the first half of 2019, mom started having back & side pain. She thought it was from working in rough terrain. The medication her physician prescribed as well as all home remedies didn't seem to help. In September 2019, she had an MRI. While waiting for the MRI results she started suffering from shingles. While dealing with excruciating shingle pain in her neck she received the terrible news that she had bony tumors. Her oncologist was out of town, so we requested a PET scan be completed while waiting to get into see her oncologist. During her first appt with her oncologist, we learned the PET scan results which showed she had tumors in her spine, ribs, hips, and liver. It also showed she had a few rib fractures due to the tumors. Despite the severity of the metastasis, the oncologist said that if the tumors were estrogen positive this time as they were in 2003, that she had an excellent prognosis as it would be easy to treat. A liver biopsy showed the tumors were estrogen positive, but not as much as they would've liked it to be. If it had been a higher percentage of estrogen receptive, it would've been an easier treatment plan which included simply changing her maintenance medication. With the new information, the new treatment plan included chemo and a new med. First, mom had to be hospitalized over the weekend to correct electrolyte abnormalities caused by the tumors. Mom had another setback in October which was Pneumonia. This required a 5 day hospitalization which postponed chemo. Due to her shingles she was also dealing with open sores which prevented her port being placed. Not to mention the persistent excruciating nerve pain. Finally, by the end of October, chemo was able to be started ( slated for every 3 weeks). However, she had a reaction to the first dose of chemo. Despite the reaction, with meds and slowing the administration she was able to complete the first treatment. The following treatment, she had a major reaction to the chemo which made her hypotensive, diaphoretic, etc. Chemo was stopped and a new one was started (weekly for three weeks, then off 1 week, extending the treatment period). According to her PET scans, chemo was working. There were other complications that quickly set in such as a painful port which ended up being a superficial blood clot near her port, swelling of her left leg, shortness of breath. Over time, mom became unable to do simple things like make herself food, etc. By March, mom had fallen a few times at home without injury. She was generally not feeling well and because of this, March 12th was her last chemo. She went for treatment on March 19th, but was too unwell. She received fluid to help combat dehydration & her doctor recommended waiting until she felt well, especially due to COVID-19. On Friday April 3rd, mom called me because she had fallen at home and was unable to get up. My uncle Danny and I met at her home and assisted her up and out of the house. She was having shortness of breath. I brought her back to my home where I tried to manage caring for her as best as possible. Despite my best efforts, she needed further medical intervention to help with her shortness of breath. On Saturday, April 4th, I took her to the Emergency room. She remained in the hospital for 18 days!!!! Most of that time, the medical staff ruled out COVID-19 and thought she had pneumonia again. However, she wasn't getting better. They continued to work at figuring out what was causing her persistent shortness of breath. Eventually, after 3 thoracentesis, we were told by a specialist that while the chemo worked at killing the cancer, it also chirrosed her liver. The damage done to her liver was irreversible and was the cause for the excess fluid. The fluid was leaking through her diaphragm which was causing her shortness of breath. Palliative care contacted me to tell me that her prognosis wasn't good. That moment is imprinted on my mind forever. My mom was given 6months or less to live. On April 22nd, a drain was placed to help manage her internal fluid and she was discharged from the hospital to my care on home hospice.
As you can tell from this long summary, its been a very long and bumpy road. I hope this page can help keep everyone updated.
This beautiful person gave me life & made me who I am today. I’ve always loved this picture of us, especially since becoming a mom myself. I feel all the emotions when I look at it & my heart swells. I’m grateful for the time I had with her & sad I didn’t get to have more. She was the strongest person I’ve ever known and she fought so hard... more than once. Today, (7/23/20) at 1pm, she went to heaven to be with Jesus. I’m happy to think of her being reunited with her dad, nephew, & grandma. I’ll love & miss her forever. ❤️💔
Thank you all so very much for your love and support.
Arrangements will be posted once they’ve been finalized.
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