Friday, October 15, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
In Loving Memory of Carol Ruth Lewis
We had a lovely memorial service today for mom. Dad was able to give a scripture reading and message. Kristi and our sister-in-law Jessica sang Day by Day and He is Able. I gave the story behind why they sang He is Able. Karen shared a memory and read mom's poem that mom wrote to her stillborn son. The boys presented a necklace to my dad with mom's wedding ring on it. We then showed a slide show with pictures of my mom and our family (we will try to post this slide show on here soon). Then the assistant pastor from a church in Longbeach gave a nice closing message and prayer. Here is a picture of all of us before the service.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Well Done Thou Good & Faithful Servant...Enter Thou Into the Joy of thy Lord
Shortly after I finished posting the blog on late Friday night, mom went home to be with her Lord around 2:15AM on Saturday. We were all with her praying, singing and talking to her even though she was unable to communicate with us towards the very end. We knew that she could hear us and feel our presence. Everyone had left the room for just a moment and when my dad went back in to check on her she was gone. I believe even up to her last moment she knew that we had left the room and she wanted to part privately.
We are all heartbroken that she is gone. We did not expect it to happen this soon. The Lord was working though, because he knew we would not be able to stand seeing her in the condition she was in for very long. She will be greatly missed by many and we are just so thankful that she is no longer in any pain or suffering.
We will be having a memorial service for mom at the Fairhaven Memorial Park on Tuesday at 10AM. Our family has greatly appreciated all of your prayers through this time. We continue to covet your prayers.
Fairhaven Memorial Park
1702 Fairhaven Ave.
Santa Ana, CA 92705
For those of you who would like to send cards, please send them to Karen's address.
1737 N. Bates Cir.
Anaheim, CA 92806
1Thesselonians 4:13...sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
We are all heartbroken that she is gone. We did not expect it to happen this soon. The Lord was working though, because he knew we would not be able to stand seeing her in the condition she was in for very long. She will be greatly missed by many and we are just so thankful that she is no longer in any pain or suffering.
We will be having a memorial service for mom at the Fairhaven Memorial Park on Tuesday at 10AM. Our family has greatly appreciated all of your prayers through this time. We continue to covet your prayers.
Fairhaven Memorial Park
1702 Fairhaven Ave.
Santa Ana, CA 92705
For those of you who would like to send cards, please send them to Karen's address.
1737 N. Bates Cir.
Anaheim, CA 92806
1Thesselonians 4:13...sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Today mom woke up with about the same amount of strength as yesterday. This afternoon she was even up for a walk in the wheel chair. She said the sun felt good and it was good to get outside.
As the day has progressed she seems to be getting worse and worse. This afternoon she became more and more week with hardly enough strength to walk. She then began coughing. Her speech has become more slurred and as the day has come to an end is not really talking much at all.
Our main nurse that will be seeing her weekly stopped by tonight to check in and take her vitals. She basically told us some things to keep our eye on like congestion, fever and confusion. This is our indication that the end is near. We have already started to see the congestion and confusion today. It seems like today has been the fastest deterioration of all. She has gone from being able to walk and hold a few minutes conversation to hardly walking and hardly talking. This evening she has started coughing up some of the congestion. The nurse told us in her best judgement from what she has seen previously mom has probably just a few days or maybe a week left to live. This is a lot sooner then we had all hoped, if it is the Lord's plan to take her. We do take comfort in the fact that she knows without a shadow of a doubt that once the Lord decides to take her she will be taken into the arms of Jesus. The best comfort right now is knowing this and that she will no longer be in any pain or suffering.
It was good that we had a hospital bed delivered for her as she is really struggling to breath tonight. Even as I'm typing she is extremely exhausted and tired.
Ok. Had to take a break and now I am back. As I was typing mom started gurgling up fluid and was having a really hard time catching her breath. She sounded as if she was drowning in fluid. She has coughed it all up for now and is trying to sleep, but still having a hard time breathing. Kenneth and Jessica arrived tonight and are here. We have called Kevin and Kyle and they will be getting here tomorrow. At this point and time we really feel the Lord will take her soon. She is pretty non-responsive right now, but we are not sure if it's because she is sleeping or can't respond. The last thing she said through her gurgled words was "I love you guys".
We called hospice and a nurse is supposed to be arriving soon to assess her. Since we are all non experts here we don't know what to think of the situation except that the end is near, but not sure how much longer she can go on like this.
Please pray for strength, grace and comfort for our family. We hate seeing mom in this state and would like for her not to have to struggle through each breath that she takes.
As the day has progressed she seems to be getting worse and worse. This afternoon she became more and more week with hardly enough strength to walk. She then began coughing. Her speech has become more slurred and as the day has come to an end is not really talking much at all.
Our main nurse that will be seeing her weekly stopped by tonight to check in and take her vitals. She basically told us some things to keep our eye on like congestion, fever and confusion. This is our indication that the end is near. We have already started to see the congestion and confusion today. It seems like today has been the fastest deterioration of all. She has gone from being able to walk and hold a few minutes conversation to hardly walking and hardly talking. This evening she has started coughing up some of the congestion. The nurse told us in her best judgement from what she has seen previously mom has probably just a few days or maybe a week left to live. This is a lot sooner then we had all hoped, if it is the Lord's plan to take her. We do take comfort in the fact that she knows without a shadow of a doubt that once the Lord decides to take her she will be taken into the arms of Jesus. The best comfort right now is knowing this and that she will no longer be in any pain or suffering.
It was good that we had a hospital bed delivered for her as she is really struggling to breath tonight. Even as I'm typing she is extremely exhausted and tired.
Ok. Had to take a break and now I am back. As I was typing mom started gurgling up fluid and was having a really hard time catching her breath. She sounded as if she was drowning in fluid. She has coughed it all up for now and is trying to sleep, but still having a hard time breathing. Kenneth and Jessica arrived tonight and are here. We have called Kevin and Kyle and they will be getting here tomorrow. At this point and time we really feel the Lord will take her soon. She is pretty non-responsive right now, but we are not sure if it's because she is sleeping or can't respond. The last thing she said through her gurgled words was "I love you guys".
We called hospice and a nurse is supposed to be arriving soon to assess her. Since we are all non experts here we don't know what to think of the situation except that the end is near, but not sure how much longer she can go on like this.
Please pray for strength, grace and comfort for our family. We hate seeing mom in this state and would like for her not to have to struggle through each breath that she takes.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Yesterday evening mom was released from the hospital. The second opinion that came back from the doctors confirmed everything that they had already told us about the pancreatic cancer, etc. We were all glad to have mom back home at Karen's house and she said it was good to be back too.
They sent her home with a catheter, since her kidney's started not functioning again. The time that she left the hospital they were not functioning and the doctor said that they may function on and off. The doctor did tell her when the kidneys stop functioning all together that it will not be painful. She will become more and more tired and will one day just not wake up. This has been hard news for all of us to hear, but know that it is the reality of the situation unless God has different plans.
Since mom has been home, she still sleeps most of the time. Her skin seems to be more yellow again. She does have a bit of an appetite back, which we were happy to see. She is eating more now then when she left for the hospital. We are trying to keep it mostly liquid and slowly introduce solids since it is hard for her body to digest right now.
Thank you all for praying for her hospice care. We were getting the run around up until today. We were referred to Vitas Hospice and they came to the house today and accepted mom as a patient. They did this as a charity, since mom and dad did not have the Medical they would have needed to cover it here in CA. I know this is an answer to prayer so we do praise the Lord for that.
Since mom has been put under hospice care, they have been very efficient and loving in getting the care that mom needs. She is very happy about their service. Within several minutes of being accepted they brought the medical equipment that mom needs for now (walker, shower chair, oxygen & side table) and her medication. Mom is not in a lot of pain now. We are all set up for everything that she needs when she does start feeling more pain. She will have a nurse that will check in with her one to three times a week and a physician as needed.
We are looking forward to seeing Kenneth, Jessica and their daughter Kendra this Saturday. They are coming to visit for a couple of days. Thanks again for keeping our family in your prayers. For now we just pray for strength and energy for my mom and no more hospital visits.
They sent her home with a catheter, since her kidney's started not functioning again. The time that she left the hospital they were not functioning and the doctor said that they may function on and off. The doctor did tell her when the kidneys stop functioning all together that it will not be painful. She will become more and more tired and will one day just not wake up. This has been hard news for all of us to hear, but know that it is the reality of the situation unless God has different plans.
Since mom has been home, she still sleeps most of the time. Her skin seems to be more yellow again. She does have a bit of an appetite back, which we were happy to see. She is eating more now then when she left for the hospital. We are trying to keep it mostly liquid and slowly introduce solids since it is hard for her body to digest right now.
Thank you all for praying for her hospice care. We were getting the run around up until today. We were referred to Vitas Hospice and they came to the house today and accepted mom as a patient. They did this as a charity, since mom and dad did not have the Medical they would have needed to cover it here in CA. I know this is an answer to prayer so we do praise the Lord for that.
Since mom has been put under hospice care, they have been very efficient and loving in getting the care that mom needs. She is very happy about their service. Within several minutes of being accepted they brought the medical equipment that mom needs for now (walker, shower chair, oxygen & side table) and her medication. Mom is not in a lot of pain now. We are all set up for everything that she needs when she does start feeling more pain. She will have a nurse that will check in with her one to three times a week and a physician as needed.
We are looking forward to seeing Kenneth, Jessica and their daughter Kendra this Saturday. They are coming to visit for a couple of days. Thanks again for keeping our family in your prayers. For now we just pray for strength and energy for my mom and no more hospital visits.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Here we are at day four, since we took mom to the hospital. She is still there, but will most likely be released tomorrow. Here are the updates as we know them as of now. My brain has felt a little jumbled these past few days so please bare with me. I feel like I can't even think straight with all that is happening and all the information that keeps coming our way.
After the doctors ran some preliminary tests, they decided to do a CT scan yesterday to get a better look at what was going on. Basically, the CT scan results showed what we already knew and additionally showed lesions on the pelvis that we were unaware of. There is nothing more to really do with this information as we know already that she has cancer and are aware that it will continue to spread.
Mom did have a small infection that was forming, but she was given an antibiotic to take care of that. The kidneys are now starting to function properly. They believe that they were failing before due to lack of hydration and nourishment. Now that mom has been on an iv, she has been well hydrated. She also feels a lot better and looks amazingly better then when we took her in. Her skin is hardly yellow now. Her appetite is also back and she has been eating/drinking everything on her all liquid diet that the hospital has put her on.
The doctors did say that they wanted to try to get a second opinion on everything. We also have been wanting this all along. They kept her for one more night because nothing has come back yet on that opinion. We hope to hear tomorrow.
We will likely still need hospice to come in to help with her care as she is still very weak and unable to do too many things on her own now. Just keep praying for the paperwork end on this though. We were told today that hospice will not care for her unless they are resident of CA. This is not a quick process and so we are trying to find out what our options are.
After the doctors ran some preliminary tests, they decided to do a CT scan yesterday to get a better look at what was going on. Basically, the CT scan results showed what we already knew and additionally showed lesions on the pelvis that we were unaware of. There is nothing more to really do with this information as we know already that she has cancer and are aware that it will continue to spread.
Mom did have a small infection that was forming, but she was given an antibiotic to take care of that. The kidneys are now starting to function properly. They believe that they were failing before due to lack of hydration and nourishment. Now that mom has been on an iv, she has been well hydrated. She also feels a lot better and looks amazingly better then when we took her in. Her skin is hardly yellow now. Her appetite is also back and she has been eating/drinking everything on her all liquid diet that the hospital has put her on.
The doctors did say that they wanted to try to get a second opinion on everything. We also have been wanting this all along. They kept her for one more night because nothing has come back yet on that opinion. We hope to hear tomorrow.
We will likely still need hospice to come in to help with her care as she is still very weak and unable to do too many things on her own now. Just keep praying for the paperwork end on this though. We were told today that hospice will not care for her unless they are resident of CA. This is not a quick process and so we are trying to find out what our options are.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
We were all excited to see Matt finally arrive on Friday night. The girls were so happy that he was finally here and so was I. He had never been away from the girls for that long.
When Matt saw mom, he said there was a big difference in her looks since he had seen her two weeks prior. Basically, the last few days she didn't eat or drink much. We kept telling her to try to force herself to at least drink to stay hydrated. Because she had not eaten much, she lost 10 pounds in the last three days. She was looking very yellow and weak. She was also needing more physical help with even walking to the bathroom. On Friday we did take her to get some blood work done and that completely exhausted her.
On Saturday Kristi arrived! Everyone was so happy that she was finally here as well. Kristi told me that mom did not look good at all.
Matt and I took the kids to the beach for a fun family day on Saturday morning. On our way home, I got a call from Karen saying that she, Kristi and dad were taking mom to the ER. Mom requested to go. She said she did not feel well at all, was feeling light headed and was afraid she wouldn't be able to walk soon. From here, it's been kind of a whirlwind of events.
They admitted mom right away and started to run some blood test, etc. One of the main things that came back showed that basically her kidneys have failed and were not working and her bilirubin numbers were really high. She was also a bit dehydrated. The doctor said that hopefully once she starts to get hydrated again that her kidneys will start working again properly on their own.
Mom stayed the night in the hospital and they hooked her up to an iv and gave her morphine. Dad stayed with her last night. Matt and I went to see her this morning and she looked a lot better then she did yesterday. Last night when we saw her she looked very ill and if I'm not being too morbid, at deaths door. She even started talking like she was about to die and of course that was hard emotionally. We still don't have many results back yet today or what the future looks like for right now. She said she slept the best that she has since before her gallbladder surgery. This was the best nights sleep for like three months. She is not in any pain now and was quite alert this morning to talk for a while. Last night she was in and out of it.
I will try to keep this updated with more information as we find it out. We know that the hospital is going to have a hospice care representative come and talk to mom and dad. At this point we are just trying to stay positive for mom and let her know that we by no means are ready for her to check out eternally. She needs to know that we still want her around, but we do support whatever decision she wants to make regarding her health.
If anyone would like to send a card to her you can send it to:
Carol Lewis
1737 N Bates Cir.
Anaheim, CA 92806
When Matt saw mom, he said there was a big difference in her looks since he had seen her two weeks prior. Basically, the last few days she didn't eat or drink much. We kept telling her to try to force herself to at least drink to stay hydrated. Because she had not eaten much, she lost 10 pounds in the last three days. She was looking very yellow and weak. She was also needing more physical help with even walking to the bathroom. On Friday we did take her to get some blood work done and that completely exhausted her.
On Saturday Kristi arrived! Everyone was so happy that she was finally here as well. Kristi told me that mom did not look good at all.
Matt and I took the kids to the beach for a fun family day on Saturday morning. On our way home, I got a call from Karen saying that she, Kristi and dad were taking mom to the ER. Mom requested to go. She said she did not feel well at all, was feeling light headed and was afraid she wouldn't be able to walk soon. From here, it's been kind of a whirlwind of events.
They admitted mom right away and started to run some blood test, etc. One of the main things that came back showed that basically her kidneys have failed and were not working and her bilirubin numbers were really high. She was also a bit dehydrated. The doctor said that hopefully once she starts to get hydrated again that her kidneys will start working again properly on their own.
Mom stayed the night in the hospital and they hooked her up to an iv and gave her morphine. Dad stayed with her last night. Matt and I went to see her this morning and she looked a lot better then she did yesterday. Last night when we saw her she looked very ill and if I'm not being too morbid, at deaths door. She even started talking like she was about to die and of course that was hard emotionally. We still don't have many results back yet today or what the future looks like for right now. She said she slept the best that she has since before her gallbladder surgery. This was the best nights sleep for like three months. She is not in any pain now and was quite alert this morning to talk for a while. Last night she was in and out of it.
I will try to keep this updated with more information as we find it out. We know that the hospital is going to have a hospice care representative come and talk to mom and dad. At this point we are just trying to stay positive for mom and let her know that we by no means are ready for her to check out eternally. She needs to know that we still want her around, but we do support whatever decision she wants to make regarding her health.
If anyone would like to send a card to her you can send it to:
Carol Lewis
1737 N Bates Cir.
Anaheim, CA 92806
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