Oct. 10 12:30pm
Mom had a good morning. She was the most responsive I’ve seen her for about a week. Bill and I took the kids to the fall festival yesterday afternoon for some much needed distraction and family time. I was telling mom about all the things we did at the festival and she was smiling and commenting on some of the stuff I was telling her. We are holding on to these precious moments when we get glimpses of the “real her”.

We had a scare last night. She was gurgling and stopped breathing. The ICU team rushed in and took over. We aren’t quite sure if she was unable to clear her throat from the sedation of the pain meds, or if the amount of morphine she had was too much, or even possibly a seizure caused by the cancer. In any case, she recovered.

If you have specific questions, feel free to email them to me and I will try and answer them in this format because others may be wanting to know the same thing.

We’ve had a lot of visitors. Several members of my mom’s family were here last weekend and many members of my dad’s family will be here this weekend as well as some close friends of my mom who live out of town. Many local friends have expressed and interest in coming to see her at the hospital. With so many people in town this weekend we are asking that you wait until we get her home and settled.

My dad, Darren, and I are holding up ok. Last week was incredibly emotional but I think we are somewhat numb by this point and are just doing what needs to be done. One of us needs to be here with her around the clock so we’ve been taking shifts. On a couple rare occasions we’ve left her with another family member who is familiar with the signs that she is developing a headache. She has a couple of friends who are oncology nurses who are each taking one night to stay with her and we feel comfortable with that given their expertise. The logistics of all of this will be easier once she is at home, and as of now, it is still looking like that will happen on wed. We still need to talk to the doctor once the radiation is complete to make absolutely sure there aren’t any other treatment options that make sense at this point.

Jack (my 4 month old baby) has been at the hospital with me the whole time. At times it’s been a challenge to meet both his and my mom’s needs at the same time, esp. when I am there alone. However, having him there with us has been a HUGE blessing. His smile and innocence are such a bright light in this darkness. Even this morning, I put him on my lap while I sat on the bed with mom. She reached out to him and said “Hi cutie” and he held on to her finger. Surely a memory that will stay with me forever.