Moving to CarePages

I have decided to move the health updates for mom to CarePages. Hopefully this will make it easier for everyone to access.

Dear Friend or Family Member ,
You've been invited to visit Sharlet's online CarePage. A personalized Web page, called a CarePage, has been created for Sharlet so you can easily receive the latest news, view photos and share messages of support.
To visit the CarePage, please click the link below:http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?cpn=Sharlet&cid=eminvite

After you register, you will need to enter the CarePage name, which is Sharlet.
Thanks!


UPDATE: My mom passed away on Easter Sunday, 2008.

39 years

I talked to Mom today and the dr said that they will try to be sending her home on Monday. That is also their 39th wedding anniversary. Kathleen Sogge was visiting today. She and mom used to drive the folks home from the DAC in Litchfield. They became very close friends during the time they spent together on the road.

Still there...

Mom had said she would call me when she got home from the hospital, and she didn't call, so I tried to call them. No answer. I called John's and found out that she is going to have to stay in the hospital longer as the chemo is causing her to retain too much water. She couldn't talk long because she was so tired, so she told me to talk to dad cause he was really yappy today. :) They will be getting a hospital bed and hospice when she goes home to help with her care at home. There is a neighbor that will help with housecleaning too.

Headed home...

Mom is supposed to be heading home from the hospital today. She will be calling me later this afternoon and if there are any updates, I will post it tonight.

Chemo for Christmas

Mom started chemo last night. She said she feels really good today. She will have a few more days of it and then head home with hospice helping out to keep her medicines straight.
Merry Christmas!

CT scan results

I talked to Johnny (my brother) today and he said that the CT scan showed a large tumor on mom’s liver that is compromising her lung capacity. That is the reason she is so easily winded. She started IV chemo today also. When I talked to Dad on Saturday, he said the dr. said she would be ready to go home from the hospital Sunday or today, but now that they have the CT results, it sounds like that has changed. I am not sure what this exactly means, but I told John that if he thought I needed to be there, then he should tell me to come.

We are going to watch It's a Wonderful Life with the kids tonight. I don't think they have ever seen it, and I haven't seen it for a long time.

Another update

Dad called last night and if Mom continues to improve, she will be able to go home today or tomorrow. Thanks for the prayers!

Hospital update

I called the hospital this morning, and talked to mom. She said the Dr. had been in and told her that he wanted to do another CT scan today. She is not sure how she will get the contrast down, but she hopes they will have a remedy for that. Her blockage is caused by an over abundance of calcium in her system, which is caused by the cancer. He suggests that she consider doing Chemo because this calcium problem will only continue and she will continue to be in and out of the hospital if she doesn’t do the chemo. Her appt to decide on the chemo will be on Jan 11th.

Dad said that she can stand up on her own today which is an improvement over yesterday.

She is very easily winded, so talking is difficult. Dad is there, so you can talk to him if you want to call. I’m sure they would appreciate the thought.

In the hospital...

After quite a few days of being weak, dizzy and nauseated, Mom was admitted to the hospital today with dehydration and an intestinal blockage. I have a phone number for her if anyone wants to call her, just email me. Thanks for all your prayers for her and Dad.

Isn't this sweet?

My friend Shannon has entered the Wilton Cookie Decorating contest. This is her cookie and you can vote for it next week. I will post the link when the voting starts. Isn't she talented? By the way, if you live in the Rolla area, she can decorate cakes too! Here is the link: vote every day this week!

http://www.cookiedecoratingcontest.com/vote/?id=D970A7C4-423B-522D-FDDB8385990B2A2C&utm_source=vfm&utm_medium=email

Big Thanks!

I just want to say a big Thank You to all those who have been out to help out Mom and Dad with finishing the bathroom and other fix up projects around the house. They appreciate it so much, and so do I!

Latest Dr. Visit

Mom saw the Dr on the 27th and they said she is a little anemic, but they are not going to treat it right now. She will have a chest X-ray next week (I think, I can't find the paper I wrote everything down on.) That will determine any changes in the metastisis. She had a very difficult evening on Sunday with difficulty breathing, but was feeling significantly better when I talked to her on Wednesday.

Back from MN...

We made it back last night after traveling 13 hours. Thankfully the drive was quite uneventful except for the realization that we had left our gas cap when we filled up last time on Wednesday. No biggie, stop quick at the auto parts store and we were on our way.

We were glad to be able to stay with my brother John and his super sweet wife Katie. We don't often get to spend much time with them when we go to Mom and Dad's due to work schedules and such. They hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their house and my sister Wendy and her family were able to be there too. Mom did not feel well enough to come, so we went over to her house to see her after the meal. I spent the day over there on Friday too.

Mom has been enjoying a little book someone else told me about. It is Healed of Cancer by Dodie Osteen.

Mom will have a doctor appt on Tuesday this week to see if she is anemic and do some other blood work.

Thanks for your prayers.

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving. Last night we had our Community Thanksgiving service. A number of the churches get together to celebrate what we are Thankful for. Give thanks to God today for all the things you have to be thankful for, big and little.

We will be leaving for MN in the morning. We get to visit with some friends that we used to work with in NE on the way. Please lift us up for safe travel, good weather and no car issues. I will send an update about our trip and mom's next dr. appt. next week.

Cancer...

As a friend said the other day, that word stirs up such chaos. Mom was diagnosed with Stage IV cervical cancer last week. Her lymph nodes are involved and her lungs have approx. 40 spots each. She will have another dr appt on the 27th, so we won't know much more until then. Radiation and surgery are not options at this stage and they don't feel that chemotherapy will give her any benefit either. So as is her usual bent, she is looking into natural options to see what she can do with supplements and healthy food.

We decided to go home for Thanksgiving this year, which we have not done since we were married because of the distance and sometimes the weather is a concern. My brother lives close to my parents and he is going to be helping out with dr visits and anything else he can.

My brother and I were talking yesterday and we decided that we are either still in shock or we have accepted that death is just a part of life. The hardest thing for me is sitting still and waiting to leave for the trip. I'm sure there is something I could find to do to help her...

God is in control and I will try not to grab control away from him. Keep us in your prayers!!

First Blog

Well, here I am. As if I don't have enough to do already, now I am committing myself to something else to do! Anyway, I wanted to have someplace to post a few pictures and keep everyone up to date. Maybe even get out of writing the yearly Christmas letter!

My kids are homeschooled and we live on the Northern edge of the Missouri Ozarks. My husband works for the state of MO. We love it here!

This picture is of the boys and I at Silver Dollar City.