(En Francais apres) No one wants to write a CaringBridge site for someone they love, let alone everyone’s favorite Nana, but here we are.
Back in October, Nana, Shannon, Kelly and Shannon’s twin daughters, Samantha and Cameron, went to visit Nana’s mother, our beloved Mamie. After almost two years of Covid, and Mamie having had covid herself, it was such a lovely trip. On the last night before we all left and Nana stayed with Mamie for one more week, Nana gave us quite the fright by having what we thought at the time was a fainting spell but realized later was probably a small seizure.
Nana went to the doctors in France and back in the US and they didn’t think it was much more than dehydration and overdoing it. Mamie got sick herself in December and Nana asked Shannon and Kelly to help her go to France to say our goodbyes. While there, Nana wasn’t herself and wasn’t feeling well. Her legs just weren’t working as they should and she felt like she couldn’t walk without help. In the end, we got her a wheelchair to get her home and had her go see her doctor ASAP when she got back.
The doctor called for an MRI and the day we announced that Mamie had passed away and that the funeral would be the next day, we found out Nana had a brain tumor. At the time, we suspected it might be melanoma as she had some removed years ago and that can sometimes show up again as a brain tumor. Nana was put on some anti-seizure meds and some steroids to help with the swelling around the tumor area. An appointment post-Christmas was made to see a neurosurgeon in Fargo.
It was then that Papa Sam decided to go back to the hospital (he had been in around Thanksgiving and one other time and is now the proud owner of a pacemaker) and give us a scare as well and Nana also made a trip so Papa Sam was in the hospital on their wedding anniversary and Nana joined him on Christmas day. It was quite the Christmas holiday this year. LOL
She went in for surgery on Jan 11th in Fargo, ND with her daughters by her side and her tumor, who we named Bruce (apologies to all Bruce’s out there, it is the first name that popped into Kelly’s head and it stuck) was removed. Nana spent a few days in the hospital before being released home. Kelly flew back home as everyone waited for the pathology report to come back. Nana renamed herself Frankenanna showing that her sense of humor is fully intact.
The bad news is that Nana was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Grade 4. The good news is that Bruce was located in a good area and they got everything they could see out. It is also a good location for her upcoming radiation. She will recover from her surgery and will start radiation and chemo pills on Feb 14th and that will run until the end of March. Nana has some cognitive issues related to time and numbers and some difficulty with her eyesight on the left side based on where the tumor was located but otherwise is a champ and healing up well and is still “our Nana.”
We will keep everyone updated as we get more info. And we are looking forward to all of the positive and bad ass Nana vibes as we can get as she embarks on her fight with whatever is left of Bruce and for when he makes his reappearance.
Personne ne veut écrire un site CaringBridge pour quelqu'un qu'il aime, sans parler de la Nana préférée de tous, mais nous y sommes.
En octobre, Nana, Shannon, Kelly et les filles jumelles de Shannon, Samantha et Cameron, sont allées rendre visite à la mère de Nana, notre bien-aimée Mamie. Après presque deux ans de Covid, et Mamie s'étant confinée, ce fut un si beau voyage. La dernière nuit avant que nous partions tous et que Nana soit restée avec Mamie pendant une semaine de plus, Nana nous a fait très peur en ayant ce que nous pensions à l'époque être un évanouissement, mais nous avons réalisé plus tard qu'il s'agissait probablement d'une petite crise.
Nana est allée voir des médecins en France et aux États-Unis et ils n'ont pas pensé qu'il s'agissait de beaucoup plus que de la déshydratation et du surmenage. Mamie est elle-même tombée malade en décembre et Nana a demandé à Shannon et Kelly de l'aider à se rendre en France pour faire nos adieux. Là-bas, Nana n'était pas elle-même et ne se sentait pas bien. Ses jambes ne fonctionnaient tout simplement pas comme elles le devraient et elle avait l'impression qu'elle ne pouvait pas marcher sans aide. En fin de compte, nous lui avons procuré un fauteuil roulant pour la ramener à la maison et avons fait voir son médecin dès son retour.
Le médecin a demandé une IRM et le jour où nous avons annoncé que Mamie était décédée et que les funérailles auraient lieu le lendemain, nous avons découvert que Nana avait une tumeur au cerveau. À l'époque, nous soupçonnions qu'il pourrait s'agir d'un mélanome qu’elle s'était fait enlever il y a quelques années et qui peut parfois se manifester à nouveau sous la forme d'une tumeur au cerveau. Nana a reçu des médicaments anti-épileptiques et des stéroïdes pour aider à réduire l'enflure autour de la zone tumorale. Après Noël, un rendez-vous a été pris pour voir un neurochirurgien à Fargo.
C'est alors que Papa Sam a décidé de retourner à l'hôpital et de nous faire peur aussi et Nana a également fait un voyage pour que Papa Sam soit à l'hôpital le jour de leur anniversaire de mariage et Nana l'a rejoint le jour de Noël. C'était vraiment les vacances de Noël cette année.
Elle s'est fait opérer le 11 janvier à Fargo, ND avec ses filles à ses côtés et sa tumeur, que nous avons nommée Bruce (excuses à tous les Bruce, c'est le prénom qui est apparu dans la tête de Kelly et il est resté) a été supprimée . Nana a passé quelques jours à l'hôpital avant de rentrer chez elle. Kelly est rentrée chez elle alors que tout le monde attendait le retour du rapport de pathologie. Nana s'est rebaptisée Frankenanna montrant que son sens de l'humour est totalement intact.
La mauvaise nouvelle est que Nana a reçu un diagnostic de glioblastome de stade 4. La bonne nouvelle est que Bruce était situé dans un bon quartier et qu'ils ont obtenu tout ce qu'ils pouvaient voir. C'est aussi un bon endroit pour sa prochaine radiothérapie. Elle se remettra de son opération et commencera les pilules de radiothérapie et de chimio le 14 février et cela se poursuivra jusqu'à la fin mars. Nana a des problèmes cognitifs liés au temps et aux chiffres et des difficultés avec sa vue sur le côté gauche en fonction de l'emplacement de la tumeur, mais sinon, elle est une championne et guérit bien et est toujours "notre Nana".
Nous tiendrons tout le monde au courant au fur et à mesure que nous aurons plus d'informations. Et nous attendons avec impatience toutes les nouvelles bonnes ou mauvaises de Nana que nous pouvons obtenir alors qu'elle se lance dans son combat avec tout ce qui reste de Bruce et pour pour la suite des choses.
Maryvonne Anne McQuade, 75, of Bismarck, ND died of brain cancer on January 20, 2023 at Miller Pointe in Mandan, ND.
Maryvonne was born on August 29, 1947 to Auguste and Anne-Marie Jollet in Angers, France. She grew up playing along the Loire River with her three brothers in a village just outside Angers and attended university in Nantes, France where she met her future husband, Sam McQuade Jr.
According to Sam, it was a “coup de foudre” or lightning strike and love at first sight for him. For her, she would joke it took a little more convincing, but in 1968 they were married in Angers.
They moved to the United States to Littleton, Colorado where both Maryvonne and Sam were teachers. It was there that they had their first daughter, Shannon, in 1973.
In 1975, tragedy struck when Sam’s brother Gerard was killed in a car accident and Maryvonne and Sam moved back to Bismarck to take over McQuade Distributing. In 1977, they had their second daughter, Kelly.
In Bismarck, Maryvonne worked with restaurants to help them improve their recipes, taught French at Bismarck Junior College and even held French summer camps for elementary school aged children. But her best role was that of mother and later, Nana. Everyone knew Maryvonne as “Nana.” She was a favorite of many of her grandkids’ friends and would often host them for lunch in between high school classes.
Maryvonne excelled at so many things. She was everyone’s go-to when it came to so many things: shopping for clothes, decorating your house, cooking a meal with whatever was lying around, gardening, dancing, even tennis coaching. And she did this all with such a fun-loving spirit and sense of humor. She was beloved by everyone who knew her. She used to tell everyone that she was kind but not nice and that reflected her spunky attitude to life.
Maryvonne was preceded in death by her father, mother and her three brothers. Maryvonne is survived by her husband, Sam McQuade Jr, her daughters Shannon McQuade-Ely and Kelly Conley, her sons-in-law Dale Ely and James Conley and her grandchildren Samantha and Cameron Clark, Cullen and Nevin Conley, and Lexi and Ian Ely, as well as great-grandson Rory Ely who was born a few months after her death.
A memorial and celebration of life will be held for Maryvonne at Broadway Grille, 100 W Broadway Ave, Bismarck on Friday, July 14th (France’s Bastille Day which was one of her wishes) from 4-6pm where we will share fun Nana stories which is exactly what she wanted!
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help Maryvonne Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like Maryvonne's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?
