Mom passed away on Christmas Day due to complications related to her treatment for Glioblastoma Multiform Grade 4. We are so unbelievably proud of her strength and courage through her fight to overcome this horrible diagnosis. She was surrounded by family and friends at her passing. We appreciate every one's love and support through this very difficult time.

Service Information
January 2, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. and will be held at Moss Feaster Funeral Home in Largo. For those that inquired about sending flowers the address is: Moss Feaster Funeral Home 13401 Indian Rocks Road Largo, FL 33774(727) 562-2080 Or Soon donations can be made to "Miles for Hope" at http://www.milesforhope.com/

Mom's obituary was published is the St. Petersburg times today and can be accessed online using the link below.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sptimes/obituary.aspx?n=roberta-fiedler&pid=137920028

Wednesday Update

What a long day ..... Mom had an "uneventful" night last night. This made all of us really happy this morning. She made it through the night without being put on the ventilator and seemed to be doing well. She was awake through out the day and sometimes rather chatty. Around 2pm though things started changing. We noticed that Mom's once good stats were slowly declining. Her oxygen saturation levels were once again in the 80's and her heart rate was well over 100. They mentioned the ventilator to Mom but she requested them to upgrade her air mask to the higher level mask. This new mask forces air into her lungs, which allows her body to do less of the work. Once she was put on the new mask her levels jumped back up into the 90's. The doctor explained that she did get a little worse today but that this is some what normal as the medicine has not had time to kick in. He thinks we need to give it until tomorrow night or Friday morning before we become concerned. All we want for Christmas is Mom to respond to this medication ;) So now it is just a waiting game to see if the medicine will help and to see if the new mask holds her stats high enough. If the mask is not successful then she will be put on life support to help her body cope with the stress of all of this. Please pray for her to stay off the life support and to give her strength to continue to fight this. She really is a strong woman .... such a little fighter. She amazes us with her strength and attitude. We are so thankful for all your prayers, messages, phone calls and thoughts. We are truly blessed to have such a great support system. We will try and update the blog again tomorrow. Merry Christmas Eve Everyone!

Mom wanted me to post Jim's facebook status this morning. I read it to her. It made her cry but at the same time she was so pleased that her husband wrote it.
"Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to FB family and friends. This is the first year that I can remember that Christmas was not centered around gifts, parties and excessive commercialization. This year will be a simple one of hope and strength for what may lie ahead. Perhaps the real meaning of Christmas after all..."

Please keep her in your prayers .....

Mom was admitted to the hospital yesterday 12-21-09 because of symptoms of pneumonia. The doctors are telling us that the pneumonia is most likely being caused by complication from steroids or her chemotherapy. The chest x-rays and other tests show that her lungs are filled with some sort of infection. They have however ruled out any issues with her heart. They have said that her heart is very healthy and is not a cause for the pneumonia. She was put in the ICU this evening because they were having a hard time regulating her blood oxygen levels. They should be in the 90’s if not 100. Mom’s levels were in the 50’s. They are treating her with antibiotics and high levels of steroids while they try to pinpoint the exact cause of infection. There is a possibility that they will place her on life support to help her body while they try to get everything under control. Mom is alert and understands everything that is going on. She remains very optimistic and hopeful that this to shall pass and that soon she will be home with the family. She most likely will not be home for the holidays … this is hard for us, but more than anything we just want her to get better. This is obviously a scary time for all of us. We will try and update the blog as much as possible.

Update

Mom just finished up another round of chemo on Saturday and is doing very well considering what the past month has been like for her. After her round of chemo in November she had a grand mall seizure. She was rushed to the ER via ambulance on November 7th and came home from the hospital on November 10th. It was a scary experience for Katie and Jim but Mom doesn't remember a thing. On that Monday (November 9th) Mom was asked what she last remembered and she could only recall what she had done that Friday morning before, which was watching Regis and Kelly on T.V. in the morning. She was taken home on the 10th but with instructions that she is not to be left alone anymore for long periods of time, if at all. She has been put on seizure medication and will always be on it. Since the grand mall she has had small tremors we call them and one good seizure that we know of last Friday (December 4th). Mom tires very easily and sleeps a lot.

Mom has lost a lot of her strength in her legs and can no longer get up from a couch, dining room chair or regular sitting chair. Even getting up from the toilet is no longer an easy task so we had to buy a special seat for her. She is able to get in and out of bed so that is where she spends most of her time. We are in the midst of getting her a lift chair for the living room. She is very excited about this and cannot wait.

I know to some of you this may seem like doom and gloom of a post but this is the reality of it and from this date forward Mom wants everyone to know the truth. She is in great spirits. Yah, we've had some set backs with the seizures and her losing strength but she is still very positive and holding on to hope.

She misses you all so much at Essilor. As you all know by now she is not returning to work. She is on permanent disability and has officially "retired" and waiting for MetLife to approve her long term disability. Social Security already has and will be starting up in January.

Now comes the hard part for some of you to read. Some may already know this information but most do not, so here it goes.... The type of cancer Mom has is GBM (Glioblastoma Multiform) Grade IV which does not have a good prognosis for life expectancy or quality of life. Please do not believe everything you read on the internet. Mom is taking one day at a time and not focusing on her numbered years. She does have another tumor that was found but it has not progressed since July and its only 81/2 to 9mm in size. Very small in comparison to the 5cm tumor she had removed in July. The doctor has very high hopes for this one for nonprogression. The chemo and radiation have halted the growth on this tumor. THANKFULLY! This type of cancer is on a person to person basis. The Texas doctors told us 11 months for a life expectancy for Mom. The doctors at Moffitt here in Tampa have told us 15 to 17 months. But, each case is different due to the quality of operation and medications. Mom feels she had a very good surgeon and has faith that he did get 99% of the tumor removed like he told us.

Thank you for your thoughts and daily prayers. They are very much appreciated and felt in our hearts. This has been a lot for all of us as a family to take in. This cancer is what it is and we will take care of her the best we know how. Hugs and kisses to all!

Hope in a bag ....

Last Wednesday was a tough day. We (Katie, Mom, Jim and I) set out for Tampa bright and early in the morning. We set out to get the answers and chemo we had been waiting for. Well, after a long day we came home with only half of what we were looking for. Mom got the okay to start the chemo. However her counts were still low so they wanted her to wait til today (Monday) to start. She had an MRI but the result weren't exactly what we were looking for, but thankfully didn't completely disappoint us. The MRI still shows changes, but the doctor is still unsure on whether the changes are cancer related or due to swelling from radiation and healing. We will have to wait until her MRI in January to be able to compare that scan to the previous ones to know exactly what we are looking at. We are kinda happy that our holidays will not be disturbed by another stressful appointment.

So .... Today I picked up a very expensive (thank god for insurance) bag of chemo therapy in Tampa and delivered it to her around dinner time. I drove across the bridge with the bag in my passenger seat knowing that the only hope we had to hold on to was in that bag. I can't describe to you how I felt bringing it to her. So many emotions. At the end of the day, we are happy that no matter the dosage, the delay or what the scan looks like, Mom was finally able to start chemo again. This makes all of us happy and gives the hope we have been looking for.

Another blessing ... Mom and Jim are staying with Grandma for a week or two, while work is being done on the villa. This will also be helpful to make sure Mom has someone with her during the day while Jim is work. GG is in over drive making sure Mom has everything she needs, that Jim has dinner on the table and that Bailey gets all the walks she needs. She is such a "Giving Tree".

Standing still .... Again.

For the past three weeks we have been going back and forth to doc appts to find out if Mom's platelet counts were high enough to receive Chemo. Well today's appointment was the same as the last three weeks. Mom once again did not get the approval to start taking the next round of Chemo. Her counts were only 95k and needed to be at the least 100k. We will not lie to you .... this has been highly disappointing for us. The spirits across the entire family have been up and down. We are thankful though that all signs point to her getting chemo next week. We also look forward to meeting with the doctor at her next appointment to see if there is an alternative protocol Mom can pursue since her body doesn't seem to want to recover from the current type of chemo. We will also discuss what the delay in treatments means to her treatment plan as a whole. Please keep praying and sending positive thoughts our way. We need them. I will re-post after our appointment next week.

On a brighter note .... Mom has been feeling well and had been getting out of the house. We have been enjoying Sunday dinners at Katie and Patrick's house, Chase and Owen's football games, Miles for Hope Benefit Walk, shopping, dinners out, birthday parties and last but surely not least Epcot! Mom, Jim, Katie and Patrick went to Epcot last weekend for the Food and Wine Festival. Mom had a blast. She was so happy to be there and enjoy the park like the ole days. The only difference this time was that it was from a wheelchair. She allowed the family to push her in a wheelchair to help her preserve her energy for the entire day. The four of them came home from the trip and crashed. They were all tired! I have put pictures below of some of the things we have been doing over the past month. Enjoy! Note: Mom's cheeks are puffy from the steriods. She has to take the steriods to help her recover from surgery and radiation. She hates her cheeks, but we insist she is the cutest little puffer fish we have ever seen. ;)

Not happy but not sad ....

We went to doctor today to have Mom's platelet counts checked again. Her platelets are still too low to get chemo. Our platelet counts are around 450K. Her platelet counts need to be at least 100K and they are only 63K right now, up from 50K last week. We will have to wait until next week to see if her counts are ready for the next round of chemo. This is all completely normal for patients that are post radiation and chemotherapy.

Mom has also been battling headaches and other issues this week. The doctor upped her dose of steroids and reminded us that the six weeks after radiation therapy can be the hardest. This really comforted us. We were worried that we were seeing signs of the tumor. :( Thankfully they put our minds at rest that, what she is experiencing is from her healing from radiation and chemotherapy.

After all of this ... she is doing well ..... so we are still doing well. Everyday we wake up and remember to look on the brightside, to hold on to hope, and try to make the most out of the day. Some days are harder than others as you can imagine. Thankfully today will make the next couple of days easier while we wait for chemo.

Today's Appointment

Jim, Mom, Katie and I set out early this morning to head to Tampa for Mom's big appointment. We had high hopes of TONS of information and for it to all be good as today would be the first day that she would get an MRI since treatment. It was our first look to see how she reacted to the 6 weeks of radiation and chemo. Today's appointment didn't necessarily go as expected. We thought we would walk away from the appointment with a clear cut feeling of victory. However we found out that we will not be able to do that until the next MRI about two months from now. The brain goes through many changes after radiation, which can make it hard for the doctor to determine exactly how much progress she has made. So, we will now have to wait until her next MRI to determine exactly how well she is doing. The next MRI should be about 2 months from now. They will compare the MRI from today to the MRI from then. Hopefully at that time will we be able to do our victory dance. ;)
As far as the next steps of treatment. Mom will begin a 28 day cycle of Chemo and will repeat it for 6 months. She will take a higher dose of the Chemo than she has been use to.... she will do this for the first 5 days of the cycle and then will have 23 days off. We are playing the waiting game right now as to when she will start her first 28 day cycle. Her platelets are low and she cannot start the cycle until they come back up. She will have blood work done again next week to see how her counts look. The doctor was optimistic that Mom would tolerate this new treatment plan well and hopefully have minimal side effects.
Mom is in good spirits and is overall feeling well. She was happy to hear that the doctor wants to try her on a lower dose of steroids, which will hopefully only help her feel better.
Prayers and crossed fingers that she gets to start her next round of treatment next week. We want to continue to take this bull by the horns and not wait another minute waiting to fight it!

Tales from the kids ....

Three funny stories that come directly from the grand kids......

Austin, Katie, Mom and Patrick were all having a conversation in the living room one day. The conversation turned to Mom and Patrick. Katie and Austin watched and listened quietly while Mom and Patrick continue to discuss whatever it was they were talking about .... Austin leans into Katie and whispers "When is Nannie going to get a job?!?!". Katie politely explained that Nannie is now retired. LOL

Mom, Jim, Owen and I went out to dinner to celebrate Mom's last radiation treatment. WAIT ........As a precursor for the story I should tell you that Owen was really sick last year with a flu and needed a suppository. With that said ... I will continue. Anyways, we are all in the car driving home when I announced to Owen that we went to dinner to celebrate that Nannie didn't have to take medicine for a while for her Cancer. Owen replied in a JOYFUL voice "Nannie you don't have to take BUTT medicine anymore?!?!?!". After talking we found out that Owen totally expected that Nannie would need a suppository because she is really sick ... and he needed one when he was really sick. Mom made sure to let him know that she never needed that type of medicine through all of this. LOL

On Sunday we were all over at Mom and Jim's house chatting in the living room while the kids played in the spare room. Austin came out of the room and announced that he found a digital camera and started showing us the pictures that he took. Once we looked at the pictures our conversation resumed. While we were talking we noticed Austin go around the back of the couch to take a picture. Little did we know, he was taking a picture of Mom's now visible scar from the brain surgery. When he was done, he came around the couch just as happy as pie and quietly went over to his Mother. He discretely shows her the picture of Mom's scar and said "Look I got a picture of Nannie's purple spot!" LOL

With those said ... Mom is feeling well. She is happy to have a couple of weeks off of the non-stop doctor appointments. Jim is enjoying his job and they are enjoying their time together.

Week Six - CELEBRATION!

Today marks the LAST DAY of Mom's radiation therapy and boy is she happy! She is doing pretty good. She is tired (to be expected), weak and swollen in the face. The weakness and swelling is most likely from the steriods and she is currently weaning down from 4mg to 2mg. We will now sit back and wait for the next MRI to find out what the next phase of treatment will consist of.

Jim started his new job and is enjoying it. They both seem to be getting into a routine, and liking getting their lives back to "normal". Mom went out to dinner with friends on Sunday night and had a really good time. Below is a picture from dinner. I think it is a great picture, Mom can't wait to get rid of the swelling in her cheeks. :)

Miles for Hope

The Miles for Hope 5k Walk/Run is right around the corner. It is on Sept 26th at 8am. Below is a link for more information regarding the event.

https://www.milesforhope.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=116&Itemid=148

I will be out there with my family and will either be doing the walk or the run depending on how I feel. I hope to have as many people join us as possible to help raise money for a very worthy cause. My Mom plans on being out there to greet us over the finish line. This of course is all depending on whether or not she is feeling well enough. This run is a major mile stone for us as it comes at the tail end of my Mother’s first phase of treatments. I have provided the registration information below. Please let me know if you plan on doing the walk/run so I can send out more information to you about race day.

https://www.milesforhope.org/index.php?option=com_civicrm&task=civicrm/event/register&id=6&reset=1

Week Four-ish = Good News

Mom is doing really well, she is had a pretty good week all in all. We received great news about her blood work this week. It came back that all blood cell counts are still normal, which means she is tolerating the treatments well. Two of her radiation treatments were cancelled this week because the machine was broken. This brought Mom's spirit down a bit as she has wanted to get them over with. They will now add the missed treatments to the end of her treatment phase. None the less the missed radiation treatments couldn't get her down. Mom had a great holiday weekend. Friday Mom and I (Sandy) spent the day shopping, lunching and taking a leisurely drive down the beaches. We stocked the cabinets at her villa as Jim was preparing to leave Dallas to come home. Saturday Mom spent the day with Katie and her family shopping, chatting and going out to dinner. Mom experienced some weakness in her legs on Saturday but has seem to work through it. The weakness seems to come and go. Mom was also very excited as Jim came home Saturday night / Sunday morning from Dallas. It was a long drive but Jim said it wasn't too bad. He really only hit traffic coming through Gainesville. You would have thought to check the UF Gator's game schedule when planning a road trip. He is here and he is here or good! Mom and Jim are both very happy to have him home. Sunday the family celebrated Austin's upcoming birthday with a pool party. It was a really great time watching the kids play. Katie was crazy enough to have 7 or 8 kids spend the night as her house. We finished off the weekend with a family dinner out at a local pizza place. All in all it was a really good week. Mom is looking forward to the upcoming week to spend time with Jim and another week of treatment. Jim meets with his new boss this week and will figure out a start date and such. Wish us luck on yet another good week!

Good News All Around

FINALLY! Good news for Mom AND Jim.

On Wednesday we went to Moffitt for Mom's mid-point check up. Dr. Pan is really happy with how well Mom is holding up during her double treatment. Receiving Chemo and Radiation at the same time can be a tough treatment to handle, but Mom is tolerating it with ease. She is getting out of the house often and feels pretty good for the most part. He also commended her for her upbeat outlook. He told her that his patients that remain positive, fight so much harder than the patients that don't remain positive. Mom needed that pat on the back. I know she tries so hard everyday to find the positives in all of this. His encouragement will help her continue. She has another appointment with Dr. Pan soon. We are looking forward to that appointment because Mom will get an MRI that will tell us how well her brain accepted the treatment.

On Thursday Jim got an excellent prospect on a job. Everything is not 100% final yet so we don't to talk about it too much and jinx it. However, we are ECSTATIC! We can't wait to get him home. Mom really misses him and he misses her. It just doesn't feel right to have her here and not him. I personally can't wait to get him home so we can go have a beer together. Daddy Daughter bonding at its finest :) They are now working on all the moving arrangements to hopefully have him home in the next couple of weeks. Knowing Jim is on his way will help Mom through her last two weeks of this phase of treatments.

Week Three ... Drama Free

Mom had a good week. She started losing hair (see pics below) and spent time with friends and family. She shopped for scarfs and hats but decided to wait until her hair is completely gone to figure out exactly what she wants. We have a big appointment with her main doctor this Wednesday. He will give her a midpoint checkup. Her Radiologist says she is doing great! Pray for good news for Jim. The house has been getting some viewing and we have a couple of things brewing on the job front. We really can't wait to get him home with us. Mom really misses him.




Mom showing how easily her hair comes out ... and how thin it is getting.






Terri, GG, Van, Mom and the boys at Chase's first football game.

No Tears Here ...

Mom called this morning to let me know that she ran her hands through her hair and ended up with a hand full of hair on the right side, but not on the left side. When she showed up today at Owen's first flag football game it was coming out in clumps on the right side and strands on the left. Katie and I were pulling on it and it was coming out very easily. GG kept yelling at us to stop! It was pretty funny. The bad news is ... Mom is losing her hair. The good news ... it looks like she will lose all of it and not just one side of her head (she REALLY didn't want that to happen). However, if you ask my upbeat Mother, she is happy that it is falling out. She feels like it is a sign that the Chemo and Radiation are working. I am so proud of her. She is really doing such a great job maintaining a good spirit through all of this.

I speak for myself when I say "Her hair falling out makes me sad". I could care less about her hair as long as I have her. I just know that when we get caught in conversation or we are laughing together, sometimes I completely forget what we are dealing with. Those moments are so nice. Her balding head though (i feel) will always be a reminder. We'll see. There are always the multiple phone calls during the day that will allow me to forget for a couple of moments just how much I hate Cancer.

Hopefully this is the ONLY thing we have to deal with this week. So far ... so good. She is happy and that makes US happy.

Week Two - Blew

The week started off with a bad start. We celebrated last Sunday night as Mom took her last steroid pill. She really doesn't like the side effects and was just plain happy to be off one of her meds. However, by Tuesday morning Mom became really sick. She had thrown up in the middle of the night a couple of times and had her "broom stick" headache. She says the pain is so bad that it feels like a broom stick is going threw her eye. We immediately got on the phone. The docter told us that Mom's brain was not happy to be off the steroid and was yet AGAIN swollen. They put her back on the steroid and within 12 hours she started feeling better. She will now stay on a low dose of the steroid for the remainder of her treatment.

Katie came home on Thursday from her honeymoon. Mom was so happy to have her home so she could hear all the stories and see pictures from the vacation. They spent the day together on Thursday despite Katie's extreme jet lag from being up for 24 hours. Oh .... and Katie took Mom to the Physical Therapist. Mom is doing well ... but not as good as we would like her to be doing. She just made the cut off for needing a walking device. None the less she is now on a PT schedule that will hopefully help her gain or maintain her strength.

Friday comes around and GG and Mom decide to go grocery shopping. I get a call from a distressed, bruised and embarrassed Mom. She fell in the parking lot of the grocery store. GG and another woman had to help her up. Her shoe got caught on the cart and down she went. She is okay ... had her checked by the doctor and everything. She had a couple of scraps and bruises. It maybe for an interesting afternoon. ;)

Mom went to Chase's football game on Saturday and did really well out in the hot sun. I will upload pictures this week to show them off. Wish us better luck in week three!

Week One - DONE!

We are completely out of week one and Mom is feeling really good. She started her treatment of Chemo and daily Radiation on Monday. Tuesday she was tired and such but that was the only day this week that she really felt bad. Her only complaint right now is that when she gets tired, she has to sleep right there and then. Just ask Jim, she fell asleep while talking to him on the phone this week. Her appetite and taste buds are still doing really well. GG and I (Sandy) got to see how they do her radiation during one of her visits. They have some really high tech machines. Watching the process was really neat and very comforting that they are doing their best to help her fight this. One of the techs pointed out that Mom has the smallest sinus he has ever seen. This might explain why Mom has always had sinus problems. We also got to see where they opened up her skull for the surgery. You could see where the screws are that reattached the piece of skull. Mom had no idea she had screws in her head.... Now we can REALLY tell her that she has a screw loose.
Katie is on her honeymoon and Mom really enjoys getting her daily calls and text messages from Katie and Patrick. They are having a really good time. Mom is so happy that they got to get away, they have had a rough start with all the different things going on.
The upcoming week will be a busy one for Mom. She has her daily radiation appointments, a hair appointment on Monday, blood work on Tuesday and Physical Therapy on Thursday. We took her to her primary doctor last week. Long story short Mom is having an issue with her strength. She is having a hard time getting up from a sitting position while on the floor and the stairs are very challenging. She starts physical therapy this week to keep her muscle moving and challenged. Hopefully all of this will get better soon. They are thinking it is related to her steriod and her last day on the steriod was today. Well, wish us luck on week two .... hopefully it is as uneventful and happy as week one!

Busy Week ....

Just to start things off, Mom did not start treatment as we expected today. However, it's been a really busy week...

Tuesday - Mom went for her CAT Scan and they notified her that they would not be finished with her mask to start radiation until next week. So Monday it is.

Wednesday - Katie and Mom woke up bright and early to get Mom to Tampa for her 8am MRI appointment, 9:30 blood work and then I (Sandy) joined them for the 10:30 Chemo Training. Everything went well. The MRI looked good, her bookwork came back with good results and the Chemo Training was very informative. The only news we really didn't like was that Mom will not only feel lousy during her 6 weeks of treatment, but most likely will feel worse for the 2 months following her treatment. Mom took this in stride as a doctor along the way had said the same thing to her. Katie and I on the other had were pretty disappointed. We were hoping that soon after her treatment she would be ready to shop and play with the kids. Oh well ... none the less. We also found out the expenses associated to her therapy. WOW ... thank goodness for insurance. Katie took Mom shopping after all the appointments. Mom really enjoyed helping Katie pick out clothes for her vacation/honeymoon.

Thursday - This was a pretty mellow day for Mom for the most part. Mom did however receive two pretty cool calls. First the insurance company called and talked to her about options that would allow her to pay ONE very small co-pay for the entire 6 weeks vs. doing that same small co-pay every week for 6 weeks. This was very nice news. :) Mom also got a call from a research program that her doctor referred her to. They would like to know more about her and would like her to participate in a study that would help pin point if her type of Cancer is environmental related or it there is any genetics involved. Mom was very happy to sign up for the study to help find answers to this beast in anyway.

With that said .... We are looking to having a nice relaxing weekend. Monday is right around the corner. We are looking forward to the first day that Mom truly gets to start fighting even though it means the hard work begins. Please feel free to leave Mom words of encouragement ... I am sure they will help her welcome the week ahead of her.

The Mask ...

With Mom's permission I am posting the picture below. Yesterday Mom was fitted for her Radiation Mask. This mask will help them position her head for her daily radiation treatments. It was quite the experience watching them make it. Mom wasn't to crazy about learning that her head would be bolted into position everyday for 10 minutes, but none the less did just fine.

Treatment

After meeting with the doctors at Moffit and the Bardmoor Cancer Center we are getting the ball rolling on treatment. Mom has a very busy week .....

Monday - Mom will fitted for her radiation mask. This mask will allow the doctors to precisely radiate her each and every visit.

Tuesday - CAT Scat to prepare for radiation.

Wednesday - MRI to prepare for Chemo, Blood work and Chemo School.

Thursday - she will hopefully begin her first day of therapy.

Therapy - Phase One - Mom will do a combo of radiation and chemotherapy for 6 weeks. The radiation is 5 days a week which is accompanied by a chemotherapy pill that will be taken every day for 6 weeks. Once her 6 weeks is up, she will have 3 to 4 weeks off. PHEW .... then into Phase Two - She will take a high dose of the chemo pill for the first 5 days of every month for 6 months. Mom will get blood work done every three weeks and will have an MRI every 2 months.

Please feel free to share your comments and words of encouragement for Mom on this site. She is not really able to read because of her sight ... but loves to hear us read the messages to her. We will post again towards the end of the week to give everyone an update on how the week progressed.

No Name Calling ....

Mom has asked that we do not share the name of the actual Cancer she has been diagnosed with. It doesn't really matter the name ... it is Cancer. If we gave you the name you would search the web for information .... all of which does not pertain to Mom. We are taking on this monster knowing that everyone's diagnoses is different. We refuse to have let the web dictate our hope. We speak with the doctors and they give us hope. Your hope and prayers are appreciated. We need a cheering section to cheer us on.

Welcome

The past 3 weeks have been absolutely crazy, hectic and draining. Below is a quick timeline of the progression of events that lead us up to date.

End June - Mom starts having headaches and goes to the doc to get them checked out. She is told to test her blood sugar and to get an MRI just in case.

July 2nd - goes to get her MRI and comes home with a massive headache.

July 4th & 5th - Not feeling well but pushed through the weekend. She was vomiting, had headaches, and visual changes. She was alarmed, but she knew is was only a matter of time before the MRI would come back.

July 6th - Mom gets a call from the doctor. She tells her that she has a 2 inch mass in her brain and that she needed to get to the hospital immediately.

July 7th - Katie, GG and myself (Sandy) fly to Dallas to be with Mom and Jim.

July 8th - The 2 inch monster was removed through brain surgery. Mom did rather well and was in good spirits.

July 9th - We received the horrible news that the tumor was in fact malignant. We discussed our options with the doctor. Mom makes an immediate decision to move back to Tampa to be with her family.

July 10th - Released from the hospital. She couldn't wait to get out of there! :)

July 11th - Happy Birthday Mom. Mom turned 53 years old. We had a quiet little party for her and spent most of the day caring for her.

July 13 - Mom woke up with many symptoms that prompted us to call the doctor. Two hours later and plenty of commotion ... she were back at the hospital

July 13 - July 20th - Mom is admitted to the hospital for brain swelling. It takes them a couple of days but they finally get the swelling under control. Poor Mom had some rough days during this hospital visit. The docs assured us though that she was just healing from the surgery.

July 20th - Discharged from the hospital

July 21st - Mom flies to Florida (with Katie's assistance of course)

July 22nd .... the rest of the story begins.....