Hi ya'll,

We wanted to send out an update on my mom.

1. She has not had any new cancer since April 2022. 

2. Immunotherapy was stopped in July because it was causing inflammation in her lungs

3. The previous radiation was causing fluid in her brain

4. She was put on steroids to help with the lung inflammation and the swelling in her brain in July

5. These steroids have been very helpful in improving my mom's lungs and reduced swelling in her brain but it has also been very hard on my mom's body. It caused facial swelling, thinning skin, muscle weakness and caused her immune system to be compromised.

6. Her Mayo team recognized at the beginning of this month how hard these steroids have been on her and were working on slowly tapering her steroids to eventually discontinue them.

7. On 10/16/2022 my kids and I were at my mom's and she fell and then later on her roommate Kate (Kate is my mom's friend who is a retired nurse-how lucky are we?!?!?) and myself realized her oxygen levels were in the low to mid 80s and she was confused. I called 911 and she was brought to Buffalo Hospital

8. She was diagnosed with septic shock from pneumonia and a urinary tract infection.  Her blood pressure was as low as 65/45 and was needing 6 liters of oxygen, tons of fluid, iv meds etc

9. On 10/19/22 I was told that my mom might get worse before she gets better and the team was worried she was going to "wear out" and not survive! She was taking over 40 breaths a minute when healthy adults take 12-16 breaths per minute.

10. But she got better and not worse! Slowly her respirations slowed, her need for supplemental oxygen decreased and we were able to start thinking about discharge.

11. She was able to discharge to Lakeridge Health Care Center in Buffalo with NO oxygen on 10/25/22.  She has her own room and will be there for 2-3 weeks to get stronger. 

12. If you want to visit, please call my mom first to make sure she is up for a visit. She will be very busy with therapy and needs to rest too. Please keep your visits short and sweet. 

13. She will head down to Mayo again in December to get re-scanned to make sure the cancer is still quiet. 

14. I am just realizing I don't really have any funny stories.  Unless you want to hear about how my daughter cut her own hair or how my son got in trouble because he hit another kid on the head with a seatbelt on the bus. Or how our cat escaped for 3 hours and was found casually pooping in our vegetable garden. Or how I turned 40. 

15. Oh and Christina got engaged! 

Thank you all for your love and support.

Kari, Amanda, Ryan and Christina.