Hi everyone! Again, sorry I haven't updated for a day or two. It has been soo crazy busy. MOM CAME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!! We were so lucky to have her here. Thank you all so much for your prayers for her to be able to do so. We had a great time and she was able to sit and be a part of it. We are all so very grateful. My brother Tom and his wife Denise were able to come from Santa Rosa. Tom's son Aaron and his beautiful daughter, Lindee came from the U.S. Virgin Island just to be here with us. The whole family was together.

It is Saturday and mom and I have just sat and talked in her room. She is mad that she can't get up and get moving. She says she is being lazy! That is so mom. She is afraid she doesn't have enough time left to get the things done that she wants! I have assured her that she needs to lay there and heal so she can get up later and feel better. She talked to Nena on the phone and Nena always makes her laugh and cheers her up! Thank you again to all for the e-mails, love and support. Please keep it coming, it really helps!

Love,
Gretchen

I am sorry I haven't updated yesterday or today. I have been so busy trying to keep up with my kids and going to the hospital to see mom. Yesterday and today were good days for mom. She felt alot better and they were able to keep her nausea under control. She was in good spirits and had tons of visitors. Today she actually said she was wiped out. She was tired and probably overdid it trying to see everyone. She has been walking up and down the halls for exercise. We are still praying she will get home tomorrow for Christmas. The doctor said if all was well, she probably would be able to. Keep praying everyone! If she comes home, you can come and see her. To get my phone number and address please e-mail me at gretchenbrimhall@yahoo.com
Thanks for all the prayers, love and support.
Gretchen

Mom's Humor is Back

Hi everyone,
I'm Lee, Nena's husband. Gretchen has given me the opportunity to update mom's condition. Mom is awake and is doing very well. She was given a new nausea medicine and it has made a world of difference. She has had a shower and has walked up and down the hallway. She simply adores the decorations that was brought in her room to give her the Christmas spirit. When Nena and I arrived she was listening to Christmas music and she had a very dear friend and her new husband stop by to see her. Some of you may of heard mom speak of her. Her name is Phyllis (she is from Holland) and she used to work with Mom at Penney's. Mom has "her humor back" she was looking out towards the nurses station and watched the nurse "Steve" take a drink of his soda. She spoke as loud as she could and asked "If he was boozing it up during work".
Dad came in a bit later to see his sweetheart. He was extremely happy that she was awake and feeling alot better. Now for the comical side can anyone guess what dad brought in to the room with him? Yep, you guessed it "a sandwich". Mom has talked with Richard on the phone and he was glad to her from him. The doctor is really shooting to get mom home for Christmas, so everyone keep up the prayers and beeeee positive. That's all for now.

It is Sunday. When I got here mom was resting well. I brought a Christmas tree and her favorite St. Nicholas nutcracker Nena gave to her with me. She loves Christmas and is afraid she is going to miss it. We thought it would help bring her a little more comfort having a few decorations in her room. Nena came a little later and brought some cute Santa Figurines and another small tree with lights and some battery operated tea lights. It makes the room have a pretty glow. Mom was doing well when I got here today. She had gotten up and showered with the help of an aide. She talked to me and said she was doing well. She felt the blockage moving and got up to use the restroom. When she came back she started getting really nauseated. They gave her some medicine but it does not seem to be helping. Mom can handle anything, EXCEPT being nauseated. I really hope that it will subside. Prayers from everyone please!!! I hate seeing my mom sick.........
Gretchen

It is about 5:00 on saturday. Mom is still resting peacefully. She wakes up now and again to tell me to go home! I will probably leave as Nena is on her way up. I hope she will be able to sleep through the night. We have had several people inquire about visiting mom in the hospital. I think that would be great when she is a little more with it. I would suggest calling first to see if she is feeling well. Today and tomorrow will probably be difficult for her. If you would like to send a card etc. e-mail me at gretchenbrimhall@yahoo.com and I will give you my home address. (Mom and Dad live with me) The doctor said she would probably be home in about a week. I would love to have visitors at home, just check to see if she is having a good day. Thank you again from Tom, Jan, Nena and Gretchen for all the support, love, & prayers on mom's behalf.

Mom is back in her room now. She is at McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden and in room 2217. She is still asleep, in and out. She did say hi and that it hurts and that she is nauseated. The nurses are getting her some medicine for that. Dad is with me in her room and has been very sweet.
The Doctor did a spinal catheder, which obviously is in her spine and it blocks the pain from a certain level down. Hopefully that is working well and they also have a drip in her iv of fentenol. Keep up the prayers!

Hi to all.
Mom just got out of surgery and should be back to her room in about a half hour. The surgery went well to remove the blockage. The doctor said she should recover from the blockage. The cancer however is not cureable. He said is is in her liver on both sides and that it is in advanced stages. Chemo or radiation could help to slow it down, but if no treatment is done he guessed she could have about 6 months left. Knowing mom, she may say no way to treatment. She doesn't want to go through what her brother, Dick and mother went through. We will see and it depends on what the oncologist tells us. For now just pray that we can get her home for Christmas! Thanks again to all.
Gretchen

I am sitting in the waiting room. They took mom back for surgery this morning about an hour ago. The nurse just came out and said they did a biopsy of the liver and it is for sure cancer. The rest of the surgery should take a couple more hours. They will make her as comfortable as possi ble so what time she has left will hopefully be spent free of pain. Hang in there mom! We love you!

12-18-09 9:30 pm

This is the first of many updates on Lola's health. I will try and update this as much as possible, at least once a day if not more. I appreciate all the love and concern for my mom and so does she. Please check the site for updates, due to the amount of calls, I am not always able to answer all of them.

As for mom's health this is what we know. We met with the surgeon tonight. He was very upfront and honest which I appreciated. He showed us the cat scan of where the blockage is in her colon and also where the dark spots in the liver are. He told us that even though they have not done a biopsy, they are pretty sure that it is cancer and that it is believed that it has spread to the liver and quite possibly the lungs. Bottom line is that it is not good. He said if that is the case, it is not cureable, but with either chemo or radiation treatments it could prolong her life sometimes more than a year. This is not set in stone but, he is just trying to be realistic and give the information of what he has experienced. She will undergo surgery sometime tomorrow to remove the damaged part of her colon. We don't know a time because this is last minute. The doctor said he would guess in the afternoon.

I know this is hard for us all because we love mom so very much. I would just ask that we all pray for her to know how much we love her and that she won't be in pain or suffering.

I would hope that we pass this on to all that mom has touched in her life, not so they can feel bad but, so they have the opportunity to reflect on their experiences with her and be able to express to her their feelings. I am grateful to be able to say that I know that mom loves me and all of us and that I also know that she is aware of our love for her.

I am sure mom would want me to end by telling you all t0 "KEEP YOUR SNOT TOGETHER"!!!

Love,
Gretchen