Heaven Gained an Angel Today

Mom passed away early this morning here at home surrounded by her family. Although she will be missed, we're feeling somewhat of a sigh of relief. She fought a hard battle and lived her life with grace and dignity through to the end. We know she is happy, healthy and perfect. She joined God and her beloved grandparents today and you just can't help but smile when you think she's in heaven now.  I'm sure she was greeted with open arms filled with hugs and so much love. 

The last few weeks were hard for her. She kept on telling us the past few months that she has the easy part, but what she endured these last few weeks certainly wasn't easy. 

Now to celebrate her life, look to move ahead, and mourn the loss of a truly amazing daughter, friend, mother, grandmother and wife. We'll miss her dearly as I know many of you will. We'll remember her and celebrate what she brought to us here on earth. Although so young and so much (I believe) still to give, the memories and all she taught me (and many others) will continue to be shared. Her purpose, her life will continue to impact so many...

Arrangements for the funeral service and visitation are being arranged by Gass-Haney.  You can read her obituary here.

Not to be overlooked

Thank you to everyone for your continued support to us these past few months. The food, sparkly stars chimes, prayers, cards, love, phone calls, and visits were everywhere we looked. For that, we thank you, truly thank you.

HOME AGAIN...

Mom did come home today; we're glad that she's here. She wanted to come back here so this is where she needs to be.  She's settled in again for the most part, however, it's been a rough day & last night.

She's been pretty restless and can't get relaxed. She says she's not in pain so we're relieved about that. We're trying to manage some of the anxiety and restlessness with some medicine.

We're hoping she rests better here as this can't be much fun for her.

Again, we can't thank you enough for all of the love, support and prayers. Please continue to send prayers for strength, peace, love, trust, and some much needed rest right now.

To the Hospital, again...

On Sunday morning, early AM, Tim took Mom to the hospital because of the pain again. Unfortunately, it had so quickly went up in the pain level that Mom requested they try the ER to see what they could do. She had been in pain, then comfortable and back & forth a few too many times since Tuesday and was tired of it. Understandable... we just can't know how bad the pain is. She has a high tolerance for pain so you know when it hurts that much, it's really bad.

In the ER they tried a quick release pain medicine that didn't even touch the pain. She was admitted to the Columbus Hospital about 11am on Sunday morning where they made the decision to change the type of morphine she has been on.  Finally by ~7pm that evening, she got some relief and has been comfortable ever since.

The plan is for her to come home tomorrow. We will see what the doctors/hospice care team think after things play out tonight. We're hopefully she'll get to come as tonight she was rested well today and was pretty alert again and moving around a little bit.

At this point, we're asking for just family to visit. Because the pain medicine requires that she stays relaxed and cannot get over anxious, we can't risk that she will again be in pain. It's too much and unfair for her to suffer.  If she becomes tense, anxious, or even starts fighting sleep she'll become agitated and restless and that is usually what leads to the pain if she can't settle down. We will for sure update here if anything changes with the visitors.

We know and it brings me (us) so much comfort knowing how many people are pulling for her, sending love, prayers, and all that you have done for my parents these last few weeks and really the last few years. We can't thank you enough. 

Keep the prayers coming....

Good Days & Bad Days

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

That's what Mom keeps saying... (actually, she keeps telling us to write the Thank You's).  Mom & Tim and all of us are overwhelmed by the support everyone has given. The cards, prayers, visits, meals, and beautiful outdoor sparkly stars that where hung outside along the house when Mom arrived home from the hospital have been so helpful. It's nice knowing so many people are here to help if anything is needed. 

It's been a little while since I gave an update on how Mom is doing. Overall, there hasn't been much change here.  Mom has her good days and bad days.  The good days are great when she's alert, talkative, and is part of the conversation. Then she has bad days and been in some pain.  Sometimes it easily managed, but the last 2 days has been a little worse.  It's a so frustrating to see her in pain. The hospice nurse team are so great and helpful and giving us ideas on different things we can do. We've went up on the level of pain meds quite a bit the last few days and are hoping this will level is out soon, and she'll be comfortable most of the time again.  Taking the pain medicine up makes her very droggy/sleepy.  Her body will be get used to in a few days & will be more awake and not feel so zombie-like, hopefully.

We've had quite a few visitors and it's nice to have people stop by.  If you'd like to stop by, please just call the house or my cell phone 847-400-6213 and let us know.  The hospice team has asked us to try to limit the time a little bit for visitors, probably around 10-30 minutes. You will know if she's trying to rest that it's probably time to go, and if she's more alert to stay a little longer.  It's hard to tell visitors to leave, but just know that we're trying to keep the overall activity level down so she stays comfortable. That's the #1 goal for Mom right now; we don't want to see her uncomfortable.

Settled At Home

Sharon arrived home on Friday early evening. Hospice met us here and got her settled in here with the morphine pump and all the details we needed to care for Mom.

It was a pretty rough transition getting here. She had a rough drive home from the hospital, and obviously very overwhelming to get here, the Hospice transition, and just overall anxiety with leaving the 24 hour care with easy access to the doctors and nurses if she needed anything.  It was a rough night. By the next day toward the middle of the day, she seemed to have settled down and was more comfortable.  The hospice nurse said that transition is always hard and is expected.  It was just really hard to see her suffering again when we got here.  So far, the hospice program has been great and is a phone call or a short-drive away if we need them. They have a lot of good advice and know what to expect so it's making us feel better taking care of her.

She's been comfortable now for about 1.5 days, she's had a few visitors, but mostly family. She's been pretty tired and hard for her to stay awake so she's sleeping quite a bit.  We're planning to have visitors this week. We've noticed she's perks up a bit when a the people have stopped by. 

Please just give us a call if you'd like to stop out. We know so many people would like to so just give us a call. You can call the house 402-246-4701 or my cell is 847-400-6213, and we will let you know if she's up to it or not.  She's pretty good at letting us know if she wants visitors or not. Please just be mindful if you have a cold or feel under-the-weather that we don't want her to catch anything and have to deal with that too. 

I will continue to update every few days or if anything changes.  We can't express enough how thankful we are of everyone's support. Your prayers, thoughts, and love is so amazing. My mom is a very special person and has obviously made an impact to so many.

Going Home Today

The plan is to go home today! She's been stable for the past 24-36 hours in regards to the pain and the levels of the pain medicine she's been getting. The level of pain meds needed has even been reduced a little bit so that will hopefully help as she is very drowsy/droggy most of the day.  She will be going home with a morphine pump which is a small pack she will be able to take with her to manage the pain so she's not suffering.  

Hospice will be meeting us at her house later this afternoon if we can get checked out of the hospital. I'll provide more details on this later.

We're just waiting for Dr. Wurdeman to come up to talk with Mom and make sure she's good to go home.  We're glad, she needs her own bed, quieter around the house and hopefully can get a good night sleep.

I know many of you would like to visit, I will update again later today once we get home and see how she is doing and if she'd like visitors.

More updates will come later...

Prayers, Love, Support.... And Relief

Quick update - Mom is feeling better, by yesterday afternoon, the pain medicine was at the level that was keeping her comfortable.  She was very tired yesterday, a little down in the dumps, frustrated of course, and droggy from the pain meds. She's able to now & since Tuesday evening push a button at a maximum every 30 minutes to get more morphine if she needs it.  By late last night she hasn't had to push the button for more; we are all so happy about that. The levels of the pain medicine are contributing to the continued constipation and making her tired.

She is doing better today! She was up this morning, took a shower, had breakfast (ate almost all of it, another great thing), and visited a little bit.  We still need to get the bowels moving, if it doesn't it will contribute to more pain.  We're hoping she'll go home tomorrow or Saturday (all depends on the bowels / balance with the pain meds) She will be going home w/ hospice so she can be comfortable and not be in pain.

Grandma & Grandpa Gehring just arrived. We think Mom is up for some visitors today. It will be good to have some different people here today.  The conversation will be lighter and hopefully get her spirits up a little bit.  Travis will be here shortly too.

Lots of love to everyone! Thank you for all of your support, it feels good to know that so many people are supporting Mom. She needs it! Please keep the prayers coming. I will try to update more again soon.



  

Hospital Update!

Here's a quick update, I will post more details and updates by later tomorrow with hopefully more news and progress on the pain.

Monday

After Mom was in so much pain over the weekend, she went to see the oconologist on Monday morning for a pain consult. After the past 1.5 weeks of her testing different recommendations of pain medicine from the home and three visits to the ER, the doctor decided and we all agreed that she should go to the hospital in Omaha (she's at Immanuel Hospital - this is where her team of ocologists practice out of) so they could monitor the pain more closely and figure out exactly what could work to stop the pain. They thought it would take about 3 days. This was all a good thing & not to be too concerned with as this was the best for mom. The pain was getting to be too much, too often. The result was to understand the right balance of pain medicine that works for her. Reminder that the Fentanyl pain patch has been managing her pain quite well for the past 5 months until the last few weeks.

Tuesday

After 24 hours into the pain meds, taking off her pain patch, slowly adding pain medicine, she was still in pain. Everyone was frustrated, including Mom. The balance of how much pain medicine they give her is important as they need to understand at what level it is managed. Then, she can manage that at home & get stronger to see what's next. Part of where they believe the most severe pain in her back, chest, and other areas is coming from pressure from the intestine pressing the tumors on her liver. They are trying to relieve the bowel backup which could help a lot. They did do an X-ray of her abdomen to be sure there was backup & to confirm it was nothing else except that.

Wednesday

Now today, she is still in pain, she's had some relief, but still doesn't seem to be under control. We're still waiting for the doctor today to see how she thinks mom is doing and what else they can do. They did do another X-ray on her lower back and side to see if they could see anything else that could be causing the pain, we're waiting to hear.

Prayers, thoughts, love, positive thoughts are needed. She isn't up for visitors right now, sleepy and so tired of all of this pain. Tara, Tyler and I (Travis will likely be coming soon) are here with them today. We are all a little worried, but hoping they can figure out the pain and she can go home soon and be more comfortable.

Thanks you for all the calls, texts, love you are all sending, and what I know are lots more prayers and thoughts we don't even know about. She's a strong woman as you all know.

More to come...

5 Month Recap

Sorry again for the lack of updates, I know many of you come to see if I posted an update; I hope to keep this up a few extra times these next few weeks/months as a lot of changes / updates will occur. I'm going to do a quick recap of the last few months first, and then will provide the update on what's next for mom.

JANUARY - MARCH

First off, from January thru the end of March, Mom has been pretty good. She's took the single agent chemotherapy treatment for about 3 months and did really well with the very few side effects. Her pain (which she's been having since last winter) was manageable for a good part of 2012 with a pain patch, Fentanyl. She's been slowly over time having to increase the patch level, but overall has been managing. At the end of March another scan was done to see how the disease was progressing, it had progressed, not too much, again to be expected (since she was only doing a single agent treatment). This was the time for her body to gain some strength to hopefully try again at the stronger chemotherapy. I would add that her & Tim took a great trip to California in February, and Mom did get the chance to feel normal (or her normal) for a few months; it was really like she was my old Mom again.

APRIL - MAY

Starting in April, she tried again the same treatment (CPT-11 & Erbitux for those keeping track) that she'd been on last summer until the side effects became too harsh. The good thing about this treatment was that the disease had not progressed on this chemotherapy so a good chance this treatment would work IF she could handle the side effects.  So, she tried it. She took 2 treatments (on a very low dose) and by the second dose, slightly increased, it ended up being too much, she was nauseated, her blood counts so low, that it didn't make sense to continue, once again, the side effects are outweighing the benefits. This brings you pretty much up-to-date thru mid-May.

LAST 2 WEEKS

The doctors decided to check progression of the disease before potentially trying another chemotherapy (her choice to keep trying) so she had another scan last week. We received the results on Tues, the disease has progressed, the tumors have grown in her lymph-nodes and liver. Again, as expected since she's only had 2 treatments in the last 2 months. The worst part of all that is going on is her pain. The doctors can't figure out how to get that under control. She's been in the ER three times in the last week trying to (hopefully, or really not?) find something else that could be fixed. It's very strange how the pain comes, it's terrible for her, and then it goes without a remedy. Just frustrating. Mom and Tim have been through a lot this last week. Many of you know that Tim's mother, Bern Sueper, passed away on Saturday (funeral was today). All of this with his mom and then Sharon not doing well; it's been rough for him as well. 

Today, hopefully, Tim (& all) got to celebrate his mom's (Grandma Sueper) life and this weekend we'll celebrate all together my brother's marriage to Shere Rath. All of the family is back and will be a nice weekend together.

Once again, thanks for all of your prayers, thoughts, concerns, and how wonderful you are to care and lend your help for anything Sharon & Tim need.

Scan Results + Next Steps

Last week, mom had another scan to check progress of the tumors.  She received the scan results today at her appoint. The results were as expected, the tumors have grown (not all of them, but a fair number of them) so it shows with a strong indication that she should not continue on the treatment she's been doing since the end of September.

A little background as it's been a few months since I last updated here:  It has been a rough few months for my mom. She has been so strong, pushing through, adjusting everything in her life to fight this. When they changed her treatment at the end of September, they tried a more aggressive mixture (recommendation from the Cancer Treatment Centers of America), but thought Mom could handle it.  But, it didn't work, the treatment plan (see last update) made her white blood count dropped so low she was in the emergency room a few times around Columbus Day weekend for fear of infection as she had a spiked fever multiple times in about 3-4 days. Very rough few weeks. She was final able to continue treatment on Nov 7th (having over a month break so she & her immune system could try to recover and become a little stronger). At this point, they tried a much lower dose that removed one of the drugs (5-FU pill vs. infusion, for those that are keeping track) and she continued w/ just the CPT-11 & Avastin every 3 weeks since then. So, after very sporadic treatment, the results were not surprising, however, still not what we'd have hoped.

So, what's next - The doctor said it's really Mom's choice.  She can continue with another round of treatment (single agent, only 1 drug), this would be every other week which would be, Erbitux (this causes the dry-skin or red-rash acne like symptoms) and diarrhea.  This drug in combination w/ CPT-11 was what she was taking from May - August this year when the side effects (namely the diarrhea) was so harsh, they stopped the treatment. But, that treatment was working, quite well based on the scan results in August.

She can also choose to not continue treatment. They would manage any symptoms from the cancer (quite well the doctor explained; almost everything can be controlled except fatigue).

She will not be doing treatment until at the least January 3rd.  Because we know the side effects will only contribute to bad days, this makes the most sense so ensure she feels good (if not almost great) for the holidays.

I believe that Mom has decided to at least try the modified treatment again to see how she can tolerate the side effects.  The plan for now is just take it day-by-day and see if the side effects from the chemotherapy are worth continuing.  The doctors say that the likelihood of the treatment working (because it's only a single agent), is about 50/50, but it could work to keep the tumors stable for at least a little while.  The balance of the good days will determine whether it will be worth it for her to continue.

We are planning a memorable Christmas. And, as you can probably imagine, we're asking Santa (really, God) for a miracle. As always, which we know you always do, please keep her in your prayers. 

It's really incredible to know so many people are caring and would, at a drop of hat, help if there was anything she or Tim needs. For now, wishing them Merry Christmas and prayers for careful consideration on making the right decision and being at peace with whatever that turns out to be.

Update on CTCA Visit

Just wanted to provide a quick update about our experience at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA).  (see previous post about info on this hospital). Overall, it was a very, very overwhelming week for Mom. Lots of information, plans, ideas, and next steps. Just need to take it one day at a time... She hasn't had the greatest week here, a lot of pain on her right side and lower chest area, but the doctors have some ideas to work on this too.  Keep Sharon in your prayers for a successful treatment w/ minimal side effects so fighting this will be just a little easier.

Results of the CT Scan
Overall good news, the CT scan showed that the liaisons in her liver are stable. No change. And based on her not having chemo for 3 weeks and missing a few treatments over the last month because of the side effects.  This is really good news.  It means that the treatment was working and has stabilize the progression of the disease. All good, not great, but still very good.  The one piece of bad news is that back in December 2010 (or before), there are small additional tumors that are in the lining of the abdomen area. This was not good news, but since they have been there for awhile, it wasn't as big of a deal. Just would have been nice if the oncologists that has been reviewing her scans (3 of the previous ones) would have told us.  Basically this new news does help explain some of the phantom pains she has been experienced off & on in her side/stomach/chest as a possible irritant over the past 6 months.

Results of her Blood/Lab Work
Overall, she is deficient in a number of areas - likely due to the diarrhea that she has had for over 4+ weeks.  That has started to resolve because chemo was paused, but overall her system is deficient in a no. of areas - potassium, magnesium, & protein to name a few that need to be corrected.  Once these are corrected, she will likely start feeling much better than she has been for the last month or so. She will be taking a number of different supplements to increase and hopefully over the next week these levels will improve.

Chemotherapy treatment
Chemotherapy treatment began again on Thursday morning.  She will received one of the same drugs as she was previous - CPT-11 and they are adding back to her regimen Avastin, plus she will be taking a pill form of the 5-FU (the fanny pack she used to get last year).  This pill, Xeloda, she will be taking 2x, 14 days, then off for 7 days, and back on. She will be getting the infusion treatment every 3 weeks (one treatment in Columbus & then back to CTCA for the infusion treatment every 6 weeks).

Other Supplements / Nutrition
One of the reasons we decided to visit CTCA is because of their team approach and looking at all components of what Mom is eating, taking, and ensure she is building her immune system so when the chemo-treatment needs to be given stronger/weaker, she can take it.  They have given her a few options of supplements she can take to help with the side effects and the overall health and effectiveness for the chemo-therapies.  Nutritionally, they are focused on her getting the calories and amount of protein necessary to keep her strength and immune system in good health. This will not be easy especially without an appetite. Again, lots more info on nutrition that can help with diarrhea and good foods to help fight the cancer.  Far too much info to list here.

Overall GI Health
Besides trying to implement some of the nutrition & supplements, she meet with a GI doctor (gastroenterologist) on Thursday afternoon. This doctor made some great recommendations about her overall GI health.  He was an amazing person that was very empathetic to Mom and her side effects; explaining all of the ideas and ways she can get better overall so she's strong to fight the disease. It was refreshing.

What's Next
And, there are other alternative treatments they discussed briefly with us that she can try to see if it can help with her overall anxiety, stress-levels, and quality of life.  Anything you all can think of to help her being just a little happier and giving her support & smiles will be helpful over these coming weeks.

Overall, lots of changes she can make; and just taking it one day at a time is the plan.  Add one new thing this week, another next week so it's not so overwhelming. Keep her in your prayers as she keeps going day-to-day and fighting!

Visiting Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Just looking for a few extra prayers this week. Sharon will be visiting Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Chicago (Zion, IL) this week.  We are looking for a 2nd opinion and just a fresh set of eyes. We thought it was time for a total evaluation looking not only at the chemotherapy treatment and results, but Mom's overall immune system. The goal is to get her stronger to be able to continue chemotherapy treatment.

After over a month of Mom dealing with very harsh side effects that she couldn't get under control, the decision was made that she would need to change her treatment to another chemotherapy mixture because of the side effects.  For those of you that have dealt with cancer treatments, the last thing you want to do is change the treatment because of side effects; you only want to change because the treatment has developed immunity to the drugs so you need to switch it up.  As she is at a crossroads for what to do next, we searched out different hospitals and approaches, and ultimately decided that Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) was the right choice.  They take a slightly different approach having her visit a team of doctors and specialists.  She will visit an oncologist, gastroenterologist, and a general physician to look at all of the pills and different drugs she is taking to work thru the side effects.  She will also have a Naturopathic and Nutrition consult as well as a Mind/Body discussion for a look at some of the alternative medicine techniques to help with the side effects.  Overall, we are cautiously optimistic, but relieved for her to at least a complete evaluation to give her confidence with her current oncology team if nothing else.

Monday's appointments --
Today, she started with some intro appointments, history reviews and tests. Overall, a pretty easy day, and a very nice, courteous team that is eager, helpful, and making this process as least seem easy & relaxed.

More to come in the next few days, I will be sure to update as we go along this week.

Thank you for all that you do for my mom, in mind, spirit, thoughts, prayers, love and support. She appreciates it, we all appreciate it!

Treatments & Side Effects

Hi all,

Not sure how many of you have been coming back here looking for an update. Sorry for the lage in adding new info how Mom is doing.  My last update explained that following Tara's wedding Mom would start a new treatment regimen at the beginning of May.  This was not an easy decision as this treatment would add more side effects on top of the ones she's already dealing with (tiredness, hair loss/thinning, lack of energy, etc). This treatment was the start of an almost all new chemotherapy treatment mixture (with the exception of one drug). She is now going to chemotherapy every week with one week being about 5-6 hour process and the second week being about 3-4 hours.

She has had one scan / check on her progress at the end of July, and what we hoped and prayed was delivered. The new treatment made a pretty dramatic change to the size and tumors - almost of of the tumors were reduced in size and there were fewer tumors. Her spleen still is enlarged which is concerning, but the doctors explain that with the liver pushing on the spleen this is to be expected.

SIDE EFFECTS:
So this is the part that is not fun and makes for long days and weeks. With Mom's last treatment, she could predict how she was going to feel when. She knew when the good days and bad days would come. This treatment seems to be unpredictable and she can have a good week or day but those seem to be sporadic at least lately far and few between.  This new treatment added - continued hair loss/thinning, dry/itchy skin and some redness on her arms, face, and legs has resulted (but comes & goes), and diarrhea. However, she is pushing through the best that she can and I am almost certain not really telling us how bad it is. But, I know my Mom is strong and if anyone can handle all of this to fight this disease, it's her.

With all of the prayers and support, I'm asking for more.  Keep sending all that you have! And, next time you see her, be sure to tell her how strong she is :). She could probably use a few encouraging words & a laugh.

Long Overdue Thank You Note from Tim & Sharon

Hi there -
Sorry for the over-due time to post this Thank You note from Mom & Tim on the blog. A version of this was posted in the newspaper and in the church bulletin, but I forgot to post this here. Next post will be an update on how Mom's doing.

Words cannot express the gratitude that Tim & I feel after the outpouring of support we received for at the benefit. Thank you to the hundreds of people that donated items, attended the event, bid on items, bought raffle tickets, sent cards, gave money, helped organize and work the event. It’s amazing all of the people giving their valuable time and money to help us. The overwhelming support I feel cannot be matched – I feel so blessed to have so many people in our lives that care enough to show this much support. The event and outpouring of support was just what I need to continue with chemotherapy treatment and fight this disease. You all have done so much; I can’t explain how thankful and grateful we are for everything you have done to help in so many ways!
Thank you, Sharon (& Tim)

Thank You & Update from Latest Scan

First of all, thank you so much for everyone that came out to the benefit for Mom.  It was truly amazing to see so many people that attended. I was more than overwhelmed and it's not even me :)!  Mom & Tim were speechless after so many of you came to give your time, talents, money, and overall encouragement. It's amazing this community what it can do when people are in need! Finally, words can't explain the gratitude we all feel after such a successful event. A more in-depth thank you will be coming from Sharon & Tim in the next few days!

This past Monday, Mom receive the results from her latest scan. Unfortunately, the cancer has began to outsmart the current treatment.  Some of the tumors grew and some of them did decrease in size. This means that her treatment is keeping some of the cancer in check, but these results are a strong indication that it is time to change her treatment plan again.  This change will be almost completely new to her.  Although this is not what we had prayed for, the doctors ensure us that a more drastic change in the treatment will work (and hopefully for much longer than this last slight adjustment in her chemo-mixture).

For the next 2 treatments, Mom will continue w/ the current regimen and will make the change to the new treatment following Tara's wedding. Unfortunately, the major side effect from this new drug causes acne-like symptoms or a red rash that can occur on your face, neck, or shoulders.  Keeping Mom's quality of life as pleasant as possible so important for her spirits and will to keep fighting.

Please keep her in your prayers!

Arby's & Dairy Queen Benefit Nights

First of all, a huge thank you to all of Mom's friends that have organized these upcoming events to help Mom and Tim.  The funds raised will help defray some of the medical costs from the past and what is yet to come. Here are a few opportunities to eat out a few nights at Arby's & Dairy Queen!

Super Sueper Benefit at the Platte Center Auditorium is planned for MARCH 26th!

A free will donation dinner will be served from 4 pm – 8 pm along with various auctions during the evening with the Grand Auction beginning at 7:30 pm.  A bake sale will also be offered during the benefit.  Items included in the various auctions are:  NE Volleyball and Football tickets, Creighton Baseball Tickets, Golf Weekends, Golf Balls, Shotgun, Pork with Processing, Quilts, Area Rugs, Nebraska Rug, Garage Door Opener, Vinyl Bench, Autographed NE Footballs, Diamond Gloss Paint Protection Package, Airplane Ride, Antique Toy Tractors, Husker Jackets, Caps and Gloves, Wheel Alignment, Gas Cards, Luggage, Tools, Wine Basket, Faberge' Jeweled Goose Egg, Lighted John Deere Picture, Lighted Anheuser Busch Collection Series Sign, Paintings, Garmin, Car Washes, along with many other items and gift certificates.  Music provided by “Maverick” following the grand auction.

Lastest Update!

We have good news again!  Mom's latest scan showed that the tumors have decreased in size.  It was a relief to hear that her new treatment has worked even better than the doctors predicted.

The side effects of this treatment is a little more grueling however.  In December and January she was really bloated and was retaining water (probably from the steroid they give her to help with some of off other side effects), but that seems to have subsided at least for now.  For that month +, he left her feeling really uncomfortable and then she didn't have an appetite and then when she did eat, it made her feel awful.  It's better now so it helps her.  Also, her hair has really started to thin which was a little bit of bummer. She got a wig and it looks awesome!  Even though, we all know this is just appearance and at least doesn't cause pain/discomfort, but can really just make the out-word appearance remind you even more of this disease. And, we all know Mom and her hair :)

The good news has kept Mom's spirits up and overall, she's pushing right through as it seems to us looking in from the outside.  Most of the time, we don't even know how bad she's really feeling as she hardly mentions anything.  I'm sure if you ask Tim, he may have a better insight, but if you ask Sharon.  She'll say, she's "fine".

There's plenty to keep Mom (and Tim) busy these next few months.  Tara's wedding is fast approaching.  Mom and Tim are helping out during the week after work watching Micah (which they LOVE!) It's great to hear Mom talk about taking care of Micah. She just says, "he's such a good baby, who wouldn't want to watch this little guy!" 

Update from surgery & December scan

Sorry for the delay in providing an update.  It was a long week and I just didn't know how/what to say. 

In mid-October, Mom had surgery for radio-frequency ablation. They removed most of the growing tumor on her liver, but were not able to remove it all due to the location being so close to her colon (they didn't want to damage her colon).  Early last week, she was back in for another scan to see the status of the tumors on her liver.

In the past months, we have been hoping & praying that the one tumor that had begun to grow was just an odd case and not an indication of the cancer starting to out smart the treatment plan. Unfortunately that was not the case and more of the tumors have grown.  A few spots on top portion of her liver and the rest of the tumor they attempted to remove also grew.  They also are seeing an indication of the cancer in 6 of the liver's lymphoids. On Monday (12/6), Mom's treatment plan was changed.  The chemotherapy treatment will add another drug into the current 5-FU that she has been getting for the past 21 months.  This new treatment brings a more aggressive course of action which also comes with more side effects.

Mom had a tough week overall, physically & emotionally.  Please keep her & Tim in your prayers as she adjusts to the new treatment.  We pray this slight change in her treatment gets the tumors back under control and the side effects of this new drug are minimal.

Some more ... My mom is awesome!

I just had this feeling of a robot posting the specifics on Mom's blog on next steps and immediately realized how awesome my Mom is.  She is step-by-step so focused on beating this disease, I wonder how she stays so strong. She must be scared, I am.  She just pushes right through ... not once complaining of the colonoscopy she had yesterday (wow, that is fun right). Keeps going, planning the next weekend ... lives each day and doesn't stop, ever.  I was talking to her yesterday (she was resting, I know ... shocking) and she just says I need to get up and do something or make something, she laughs slightly. But, she's serious.  I think I'd take every opportunity to just watch a movie on the couch.  But not my MOM, she doesn't stop.  No matter what.  Keep those prayers coming! Read below for the details!

Surgery is scheduled. Need all of your prayers!

Mom had the colonoscopy yesterday to check the proximity of the tumor on her liver to her colon and everything turned out fine.  They are able to move ahead with the procedure - Radio Frequency Ablation which is good news (see below post for more details on the procedure).  The surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, the 5th at Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha.  She will be in the hospital overnight for pain management. The doctors say she should be on her feet within a few days following the surgery.  Please keep Mom in your prayers for a successful surgery & quick recovery AND success with this procedure.  For those of you who know Sharon, she has plans over the weekend she doesn't want to miss!