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. Welcome to Nicole's site. Here is a brief summary of the last month in her life. On October 18, 2020, Nicole attempted to get up for the day and slid to the floor instead. She was unable to get back up and called for help. She was taken to Emanuel Hospital where a CT scan and MRI were done. The results showed a mass the size of a chicken egg in her left brain and significant swelling that stretched across almost the whole left hemisphere.
On October 20, 2020, surgery was performed to remove as much of the mass as possible and a biopsy was ordered. Unfortunately blood flow to a nearby part of her brain was interrupted during surgery. The surgeon stated that this was likely due to the original blood supply being compromised which resulted in another blood vessel compensating. Since this blood vessel was not expected to be the main blood supply, it was severed inadvertently during the tumor removal. It took almost 3 days for Nicole to wake up and it was then known that she was paralyzed on her right side. Therapies were started to help her regain function.
On November 3rd or 4th, Nicole moved to Marquis Care Oregon City to their skilled nursing portion for continued therapies. She has regained her speech and is working with speech therapy on swallowing. Fortunately she is able to consume enough nutrition that the feeding tube was removed on November. (Actually she removed it herself but it wasn't put back because she was getting enough calories.) She currently can not walk, stand, or use her right arm/hand.
Today, November 17th, she saw the radiation oncologist and lead oncologist at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. The tumor is a glioblastoma. This is a level 4 cancer which means it is very aggressive and a total cure is not possible. Nicole has chosen to fight it so the plan is for her to begin chemotherapy and radiation therapy on November 30th. Unfortunately she can not start treatment for the cancer if she is in a skilled nursing facility so she must be moved somewhere else by November 30th. The application for government assistance has been started but it will likely take until mid to late December to have the application processed and a care plan put in place.
Now that information concerning the cancer and treatment are known, there are many ways that Nicole's friends can help her. Calls, video chats, visits on the phone at her window, and songs help her remain connected to friends plus provide practice speaking and singing. This in turn helps improve the use of her tongue as she works towards eating solid food. A Go Fund Me page will be set up by 11/19/20 to help with transportation costs as she has to go five times a week for radiation. Volunteers to meet her at the OHSU Knight Cancer Center (across the street from Good Samaritan Hospital) would be appreciated and this is a way to visit briefly with her in person. One need is particularly urgent and that is to locate caregivers to help her at her home. She can't return there until that is in place so if you know of anyone who is a caregiver and looking for work, please contact Julia or Sue via this website. Please see Needs to review all of her current needs.
I apologize for the short notice. There will be a celebration of Nicole's life tomorrow via Zoom. Please join us at 12:50 pm, Saturday, March 13th by emailing your email address to juliamorgan2001@yahoo.com. A link will be sent to you tomorrow morning.
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