This is Jane's Husband, Mike.
After several requests for updates to Jane's blog, I have taken the roll of presenting an update of Jane's status and everything that has happened up to this point.
April 1st, 2009 - Jane went to play pool and had brought her A-game. she lost her 8-ball match, but won her 9-ball match. Her play has been some of the best I have seen Jane ever do. A good way to end her pool playing career ( more on this later ).
April 2nd - Jane went in to have a paracentesis ( a procedure that would remove fluid in Jane's abdomen ). Excessive fluid has been collecting for 2-3 weeks within Jane's abdomen and was causing her breathing problems and the sensation that she was full all the time. This is a common thing with cancer patients. They took out 4 liters, or about 10 pounds of fluid.
April 3rd - Jane had some bleeding issues so we went to University Hospital. After looking at her blood test, it was felt that she needed to be hospitalized overnight in order to give her some vitamin K and a blood transfusion.
April 4th, Jane was released from the Hospital feeling somewhat better, but was still weaker then she had been earlier in the week.
April 7th - Jane went in for a post hospital doctor's visit. They took Jane's lab and found that her kidney function was seriously compromised. This is big news because we were hoping onto getting in another Phase 1 Study, but the kidney levels were to high for Jane to qualify.
April 9th - I found Jane sitting on the floor babbling and not making any sense. I had been sleeping in a different bedroom because of the pain, Jane has become a very light sleeper. ( Jane says I snore, but I never heard myself snore, since I always am sleeping ) For several mornings previously, she had been calling me by telephone around in the morning to feed the dog and cats. This morning, I woke up at 6 in order to get ready to go to the hospital. I was surprised that Jane hadn't called me, and seeing the animals demanding food, I knew that Jane hadn't fed them. I went into the bedroom, found a very upset Jane trying to figure out how to stand up and who's speech didn't make any sense. I got her into bed, fed the dogs/cats and called Jane's sister to help.
Since we had an early appointment with Jane's doctor, we decided to take her to the University Hospital Cancer Center so he could evaluate her condition. The doctor took blood tests and came back saying that her kidneys were to far gone for any chemo-therapy. His advice was to contact Hospice and try to make Jane as comfortable as possible. He said that she had weeks maybe couple of months.
The doctor admitted Jane to University Hospital again. Anne called Jane's other sisters and family and stated that they may want to come. Jane wasn't looking so good.
April 10th - I spent the night in the hospital with Jane. About every hour or so, she needed to use the bathroom. I helped every time because she was not able to walk under her own power. But as the early morning went on, Jane became more and more cognizant of what was happening. by mid morning, she was back, though she was very weak and had very little color in her skin.
The Hospice contact came in, and Jane was upset that the Doctor hadn't told her that chemo was not an option. ( remember, Jane had no memory of the day before ) We got the doctor on the phone and he told Jane that her options were pretty limited at this point. It was hard to see Jane relive what the rest of us had gone through the day before. It was decided that she would spend another night in the hospital while Hospice set up everything for Jane at the house.
April 11 - After a major cleaning of the house by Jane's sisters and a few friends, Jane came home. She was functioning better, and seemed to be stronger. Hospice provided a walker and an oxygen machine to help with Jane's breathing. Both Jane's parents showed up and helped around the house. Some people came to visit, and for the most part, it was a good but exhausting day.
April 12 - Jane saw more visitors and again, another really exhausting day.
April 15 - Jane started the day out good, but ... we were out on the front porch in the swinging chair. It got cold and we decided to go in. Last I saw was jane up and walking to the door. Next thing I know she and fallen on her back and hit her head on the cement. We tried to stand her up but it seemed like she was in deep pain ( later we found out that she had a strong case of vertigo and nausea ) so we left her lying down, putting a pillow over her head, covering her in blankets and waited for the ambulance to arrive.
The EMT's arrived and together we decided that it would be best if we went to the hospital. We arrived at the emergency room at University Hospital where they gave her anti-nausea and pain medication. The doctor said that there was a big knot on Jane's head, but because Jane was so weak, there wasn’t a lot they could do. We got home around 10:30 that night..
April 16 - Jane slept most of the day. Every time she got up to either take her pills or use the bathroom, she vomited.
April 17th - Jane was doing better. By this time, she wasn't vomiting, but was still dizzy when she got up. That afternoon, she had her second paracentesis. This time they pulled out 7.4 liters, or pretty close to 8 quarts. Again, this is like 15-16 pounds of fluid.
April 18, April 19 - Jane has started to eat a little bit, and has gradually been getting stronger. She is still pretty fatigued and is very frail.
April 20th - In the morning, Jane got up and with the walker came out in the breakfast nook area. After a while, she decided to move to the living-room and sit in her chair. she napped for a few hours. When she got up again, she headed towards the bed-room to take a nap. On the trip back, her legs collapsed due to lack of strength and she fell down and again wacked her head on the wood floor. After about 30 minutes, we got her into the wheel-chair and got her to bed.
This morning as I write this, she wanted me to wheel her out to the living room and is sitting in her recliner. so today is starting out good.
Currently, Jane isn’t able to walk, can move with a lot of assistance,
doesn’t talk very much because talking takes large amounts of energy, and hasn’t eaten in 2 days. Jane is also being medicated for pain. Jane’s family and I are doing our very best to keep Jane comfortable. We feel that Jane’s time in this world is short.
We are now up to date more or less on Jane's status. I know she has a lot of idea's to post to this blog, but to be honest with you all, I am not sure if she will be able to post again. Like you all, I am keeping my finger's crossed that she will.
A few weeks ago, she told me that the time is coming soon when she will be making that trip over the rainbow bridge herself. I just hope that Sydney, Cooper, Nikki ( her first dog ) and all her other pets are there to greet her.
I don’t know what to say at this point except thank you for all the positive support!
Mike Prewitt ( Jane’s Husband )
