Journal
April 2nd, 2022
We miss Maria very much.
March 30th, 2022
Maria passed away today at 11:45 a.m.
March 29th, 2022
Maria is going to into hospice today.
March 28th, 2022
It's been a rough few days.
March 22nd, 2022
Unfortunately, as expected, Maria's fluid build-up has continued, causing plenty of disruption and pain.
March 18th, 2022
A brief update after Maria's visit with the oncologist this morning:
March 16th, 2022
Bit of a rough few days here.
March 9th, 2022
No big updates right now—just wanted to share that Maria's platelet count was better this week.
March 2nd, 2022
This week, Maria's platelet level took a further dip—a sign that the chemo is taking a toll.
February 16th, 2022
We haven't had too many updates lately! So much of this process, it turns out, is simply waiting for treatments or test results.
January 21st, 2022
Some more good news this week!
January 14th, 2022
Yesterday Maria met with her oncologist to review the latest CT scan results. They showed that the mass in her pancreas is a bit smaller, and the lesions on her liver are stable—not huge changes, but still positive.
January 9th, 2022
Happy new year! No significant news to report, but didn't want to leave folks wondering.
December 31st, 2021
A small spot of hope this week: Maria's CA 19-9 levels are down. What does that mean?
December 24th, 2021
Maria's third chemo treatment was earlier this week, just in time for the holidays.
December 17th, 2021
Last week was rough. After Maria got her second chemo treatment on Monday (with a continuous drip through Wednesday), nausea was a constant issue.
December 6th, 2021
Maria met with her doctors last Friday to adjust some medications and do some labwork. No big news, but it's good to see that her white blood cell count is normal, her pain is being managed, and she's able to get better sleep these days.
December 1st, 2021
Maria's been having a good couple of days!
November 26th, 2021
We hope everyone had a lovely and relaxing holiday. With four dogs, two children, and seven adults in my parents' house yesterday, we can't say that "relaxing" really applied to us, but it was a wonderful visit all the same.
November 22nd, 2021
Maria had her first chemotherapy appointment today. It sounds like it went well; she reported that "they are taking very good care of me here! They brought me pillows, blankets, and ginger beer, and told me to put my feet up and lay back in a comfy recliner." (I told her to ask them for a pedicure, but I guess that's not standard procedure.) Jerry reported that "she came out with a smile on."
November 19th, 2021
A few weeks ago, Maria began experiencing severe pain in her abdomen. It was affecting her ability to eat and sleep, so she scheduled several tests with her doctor (endoscopy, CT scan, etc.). One of the tests showed a mass on her pancreas and lesions on her liver, so they immediately sent her to an oncologist. Last Friday (November 12), they biopsied her liver, and although we were told to wait until November 22 to get results back, they came back yesterday.