Welcome to the CaringBridge website for our mom, Toni Pelletier. We have decided that this is the best way to share information with the numerous people who love and care for our mom. We will share information on mom's health from the medical professionals and share how mom is personally doing. Know that we will update when there is new information but also recognize that we don't get updates as often as we would like either due to the extreme pressures of the medical professionals due to COVID-19. We all love Toni and we know that everyone is praying for her all the time!
Toni's story: Toni had many health issues while she was living in Texas. They diagnosed her with cancer in Texas and we wanted to get her up to Wisconsin for treatment so she could be close to family. She was in a great deal of pain from her leg and back, had fallen several times and had started to get a little confused from time to time. Katie flew down on April 8th to get her and they drove up in two days since mom was getting very ill during the drive. By the time they made it to Kenosha, Katie knew that she needed to bring mom directly to the ER. They tested her for COVID-19 and she, surprisingly, came back as positive. The doctors there treated her and indicated she had several significant issues, but none of them could be immediately treated due to her COVID status.
She was released to a rehab facility in Milwaukee (the only one around that would take a COVID-19 positive patient) where she stayed for several weeks. She was hospitalized during this time as well after declines in her health but was sent back to rehab after stabilizing. Rehab sent her back to the hospital (Columbia St. Mary's in Milwaukee) on June 4th, where she has been since. During the first week, she declined greatly and was even put on a ventilator for several days. She improved and they were able to remove the vent. However, each day there seems to be a new battle that she has had to deal with: atrial fibrillation, internal bleeding, pulmonary embolism, blood clots in both legs, plural effusion, mass on her kidney that is still unknown if it is cancerous, and more. During these several months, she is often dealing with great confusion that could be related to one of her many medical issues. She is receiving physical rehab when she can tolerate it, but she is quite weak. Depending on her physical ability, where she is located (ICU or Med/Surg floor) and her confusion level, we are able to talk to her sporadically. We are still not able to see her due to her COVID-19 status and COVID restrictions.
Despite us getting semi-regular updates from the doctors/nurses and other care staff, there is infrequently new information. Kris and Katie do feel that the medical staff are doing everything they are capable of doing at this time. Toni has a ridiculously complicated case and many things are working against each other (IE bleeding internally vs blood clots), plus she is still COVID-19 positive for now 82 days so they are severely limited in what they can address with her COVID-19 status. Additionally, because she is so weak and fragile, they must be very cautious of how to treat her multitude of issues.
At this point, she does not have her cell phone and we would discourage most communication to her in the hospital since she is usually so weak and sometimes confused. We share everyone’s love with her whenever we are able to talk to her and she knows how much we all love her.
It is with a heavy heart that we let you know that our mom passed away peacefully this morning. Katie and I were able to be with her, holding her hands and telling her how much everyone loves her.
At this time, in the interest of everyone's health, we're going to forgo services for mom. We'll have a celebration of her life in the coming months when it becomes safe to do so.
Love to all. Mom is dancing with Jesus and no longer suffering. 💔❤️
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