Care 24/7

Hello Friends and Family,
We've reached the point now where mom needs care 24/7, or atleast someone with her at all times to make sure she is safe. Between me, Karen, dad and occasional visitors we've been able to maintain this need. But, we have now seen the need to have more scheduled times of help from others as well.
We accessed an onilne care calendar that we will be posting here tomorrow that will give a detailed description of the needs we are hoping to fill. One of those needs is for an overnight caregiver. This will have some specific requirements such as staying awake (for the most part) during the night. This is so that Karen and I can have some further rotation and not have to do it every other night.
It's hard to ask for help in these areas, knowing that it is a big commitment. We are realizing/acknowledging that we want to enjoy time with mom as much as possible and that it is also really hard when we are the sole care providers.
Thank you all for your support and continued prayers.

Ikea

Karen and I went to Ikea with mom today... it was a fun time had by all and Greta ate her first Swedish meatballs to which she enjoyed!

One thing that my sister and I have agreed on is that mom needs to sleep better at night. We also talked with her about it, but she can be quite stubborn when it comes to some things. So, if you are a prayer person, that is one thing to be praying because she is only getting a few hours a night lately. She says she feels rested, yet all day she falls asleep randomly... I teased today that she is narcoleptic.

If you'd like to visit and see her, please don't hesitate to call her cell or home...private message if you need digits..

This is rather short, but now i need to go to bed!
good night!

Purging

For the last couple weeks Patti has been purging, purging, purging the house of many different things. She often has a list of five different projects going. Thank you to those of you who have come to help her do these things.

I was just with her tonight and she has said (like she has three other nights :)) that she is going to update her status, so we'll see if that holds true, ha! She told me tonight that she is feeling good and the only thing that really is giving her trouble is a pain that goes down her back left leg, starts at her glutes(sp'?) and goes down. She did have a massage therapist come today though, which is part of hospice, and worked on that spot and her upper back. Apparently it was so relaxing that she fell asleep! The steroids are really what gives her the energy for all the purging etc. Sometimes I think she needs to slow down and rest, but that's just my opinion. She says she sleeps... buuuut... well her definition and mine might be different

I don't have a whole lot else to report, but if you ever have any specific questions about things, please feel free to let me know

I'll leave you with the song she has been telling everyone is her "theme" right now... or describes what she is feeling. My sister gave her the soundtrack yesterday and she was apparently singing and dancing to it early this morning! haha

http://youtu.be/l9BbUqHrWFI

Champlin/Dayton Press newspaper article

Mom and Dad's local paper wrote about her story and involvement with Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

http://pressnews.com/2013/10/02/4-weeks-live/

I'm going to Disney World!

Hi everyone... I've meant to update this for awhile, but we went to Florida in a whirlwind, this update is why it we picked up and went.

About 3wks ago, Sept 8th, dad brought mom in to Maple Grove Hospital after consulting with CTCA about some significant weakness she had been having. They did a scan and the results showed that the original tumor had grown back to the size it was in March and there was also another new tumor. The new tumor was causing a large amount of swelling, which in turn was causing the weakness. Maple Grove hospital transported her to North Memorial in Robbinsdale and during the drive the medics told her if they had waited any longer they would be calling the coroner instead of the transport. Thank God for giving them wisdom to call when they did!

The next day the neurologist came in and told my dad that mom has weeks to a couple months, based on the rate at which the original tumor grew and this new tumor. They put her on steroids to keep the swelling at bay.

After this news, we decided it was time to go and make our memories, so we rented an RV packed up and drove to Florida. We went to Disney for a few days, Sea World, and the ocean multiple times. It was an awesome time and mom is holding steady.

Also, we do still believe God can heal her on this side of heaven if that's His will... and we are also aware of the realities... Mom is ready no matter the outcome and is in good spirits!