Donate to CaringBridge in the next 2 days, 6 hours, 24 minutes and 45 seconds
and your donation will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $10,000, thanks to a matching gift from Living Water Foundation.
Mary’s Story
Site created on February 17, 2021
Hello all! I am starting this site to keep everyone updated. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Mom's health has declined over the last several years and she also has dementia or cognitive changes from the brain radiation she received when she had cancer in 2013. We are very fortunate that she is still with us as she is one of the only 5% of people who survive more than 5 years with small cell lung cancer. That being said, I think we all know her strength and determination. Mom fell in 2019 and this started a journey that has ended up with her moving in with us. She was hospitalized in April 2019 for a week, then sent to Golden Age Nursing Home for skilled nursing care in May 2019. Once discharged from here, she went to live at Lake Sherwood, an assisted living facility right around the corner from me. We were able to visit her and pick her up daily and bring her to our house for dinner. She did well here and then COVID happened. We were unable to visit for a few months due to COVID restrictions. I think this is when her decline really started. In August of 2020, we all got COVID including mom. We moved her in with us for about a month at this time and she was still pretty independent. She tired easily but was able to do most things on her own or with minimal assistance. We all had only mild symptoms from COVID, except for poor Luke who had also just had a tonsillectomy and he ended up having to go to the hospital because he was so dehydrated. Once mom was back at Lake Sherwood, she continued to do well with our schedule where we would pick her up every day and bring her to our house for dinner. However, this got harder and harder for her to do. Her memory also continued to decline. We decided to add on to our house and move her in. Construction on our addition started in January; however, mom continued to decline. We decided to move her in before her room was ready and she moved in on February 5, 2021. Cameron graciously gave up his bedroom for Granny until her room is ready. My boys adore her and have helped me care for her for years. They are so wonderful with her and she loves them beyond measure. So this is the short story of how we ended up here. I just wanted to create this site so I can update family and friends without forgetting anyone. Her care is demanding so it is hard to keep everyone informed, plus did I mention that I have 3 kids. I am very fortunate for them as they are a huge help as is my partner, David. He is an amazing and compassionate man and helps so much with moms care. He also just lost his mom on Christmas Eve so I know this has to be difficult for him. I will update as often as I can. Please pray for mom and our family. Love you all!!! 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.
So today was the first day I went to work and left mom with a sitter (&david and kids). I got home late because I had not been in the office for 2 weeks. The caregiver told me that she gave her potato soup (thanks David) then she requested more to eat so she had a bowl of shrimp and corn soup (again thanks David). I decided to weigh her again before putting her to bed and she weighed 86.5 pounds (last week she was 82). Needless to say David’s cooking and my insistence on her eating are going a long way. About 11:00pm I’m headed to bed and stick my head in to check her and she informs me she is wet and hungry. Got her changed and chocolate. After that she said she was still hungry so she had ice cream and more chocolate and we laid in the bed and laughed. Her smile and laugh makes this all worth it. Love your mommas while you can. You never get a second chance.
