GOODBYE MOM!

First of all, let me apologize for taking so long to do this. It has been difficult adjusting to life as it is now and not updating every day. I keep thinking I will wake up from this terrible dream but unfortunately it isn’t a dream. We lost mom on Tuesday December 23 at 5:40 AM after a long rough night. About 7:00 the night before, mom’s breathing became very labored. I gave her some Morphine which usually eased her breathing within about 3-5 minutes but at 7:45 she was still struggling so Royce called the nurse. She told me to give her some Ativan and call back in 30-45 minutes if it didn’t help. It didn’t ease her breathing at all so Royce called back and the nurse came out. She said that mom’s lungs were filling with fluid and that we didn’t have long. She spoke with the doctor and got the go ahead to increase her Morphine and Ativan to keep her comfortable. We gave her both medications every hour and she seemed to be peaceful although her breathing sounded terrible. It was apparent that she did not want to take her last breath with us hovering around her so about 3:00 AM Royce laid down to get some rest (he was in the room with mom) and Graig and I tried to rest in the living room. We went in every hour to give her the meds and she seemed to be peaceful. Royce awoke at 5:40 and came in and said that mom was very quiet so Graig and I went in and she was gone. She had taken her final journey and what a wonderful journey that must have been. I am sure that my grandparents were there awaiting her arrival and they had a joyous reunion.

Her journey here was 4 days shy of 5 months since we learned of the brain tumors and this terrible disease. She fought this disease with courage, grace, & dignity. We prayed every day for a miracle but that wasn’t part of God’s plan. I guess he needed her more than we did although I can’t imagine anyone needing her more than us. Oh, how I miss my mom, my best friend, but I find some comfort in knowing that she isn’t suffering anymore.

For those of you who were unable to attend, we had a lovely visitation. Ashley made a video, “A Tribute to the life of Glenda Malter”, and it was incredible. There were pictures of mom as a young girl up until this past year when she got sick. She was such a lovely lady. Although it made us sad, we tried to remember the good times associated with each picture. Holding her first grandchild, celebrating the holidays, various trips, etc. Whenever mom was around we were always making memories. I have so many wonderful memories with her and it breaks my heart to know that we won’t be making any more memories.

The graveside service was quite an experience. First of all for those of you who don’t know where Protem is, it’s a million hills and curves from here. The biggest majority of our family suffers from motion sickness. Our grandparents on both sides of our family moved to Protem after they retired to be on the lake. I’m not sure why they couldn’t find a lake with a straight road leading in. Our Granny Roxie still lives there and I have wonderful memories of spending my summers there as a child. Mom’s parents also lived there so they were buried there. Mom told me that she chose to be buried there for 2 reasons. First and foremost she said was because if she was buried that far away I wouldn’t be able to come and sit at the cemetery and cry everyday and also because her parents were buried there. When I told my girls were she was being buried they turned green. Oh how they dreaded that trip but we passed around the Dramamine and set off on this final trip with mom. Everyone in our car made it without getting sick but I do think that my nephew, Derek, came close. It was pouring down rain and terribly windy. We made it there without any problems. The cemetery was a mud pit and it was raining really hard. Pastor Dennis did a wonderful job. During the short service a thunderstorm developed and the lightning began. I believe that this was mom’s way of saying to make it short. She didn’t want us standing around the graveside crying. By the time we left the cemetery it was raining really hard. We had to stop at one point so that Derek & Larry could get out and move some tree limbs out of the road so we could get through. We made it back to the church safe and sound and the church ladies served us a wonderful lunch. Thank you so much.

I don’t even know where to begin to express my family’s appreciation to everyone. I want to thank everyone who has traveled this journey with us. It has been the longest and the shortest 5 months of my life. I’m really lost right now. Mom was such a huge part of my life. Even before she got sick there was never a day that went by that I didn’t talk to her. What I wouldn’t give to talk to her just one more time. Thank you all for the food, calls, messages, prayers, encouragement, and shoulders that we cried on many times. I have never seen such outpouring of love and compassion. We have had 6824 hits on the website and 523 messages. You people are so AWESOME. Our family is so lucky to have each and every one of you in our lives. To those of you out there who never had the privilege of meeting my mother, thank you for praying for her even though you didn’t really know her. She was so touched that so many people were praying and keeping track of what was going on with her. She enjoyed your messages, even when it got to the point that we had to read them to her. She looked forward to it every day.

I have one last request from everyone. Please continue to pray for our family, especially for Royce. We know that mom is in a better place, but we have to learn to get from day to day without her. Please continue to call on Royce and give him encouragement as we all try to make a new normal. Someone once told me that after you lose a loved one, nothing is ever normal again and that you have to make a new normal.

Our family wishes that each of you and your families have a safe and wonderful New Year and that God blesses you for all that you have done for us. For those of you still keeping track of this website, I will try to get on occasionally and update on what is going on with our family.

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATES ON MOM

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2008 02:08 PM, CST
Well, I come to you with a very heavy heart today. The nurse just left and she said that mom has started the dying process. She said it could be this afternoon or up to 2 weeks from now. She said that she didn’t think it would be long because mom is at peace. Let me back up a little bit, mom was very unresponsive this morning, her breathing was labored and sporadic, and she appeared to be in another world. Royce called the hospice nurse to come out. Her blood pressure is down, her heart rate is up, and she is experiencing episodes of apnea which are all signs of the dying process. We knew that this was coming but are in no way prepared. At this point, all we can do is try to keep her comfortable and pain free. I will update later if there are any changes. Thank you all and God bless you.

"God IS bigger than Cancer!"

Love to all, Lee Ann


SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2008 03:34 PM, CST
I know that everyone wants to know what is going on so I felt that I needed to update. Needless to say, my heart really isn't in this. Mom is doing about the same. We are keeping her comfortable with the morphine and we are continuing with the Dexamethason (steroid) to keep the swelling in the brain down. We are giving the meds that we can get in liquid form as mom can hardly swallow now. We are continuing with the Dex because if the brain starts swelling too much she will start having seizures and we are trying to avoid that. They also sent out some liquid Ativan in case she starts getting restless or having seizures. I was talking with her this morning and telling her how much I love her and how proud I am that she has been so strong and I was crying. All of a sudden she looked right at me and said, "Please don't cry." So, no more crying in front of her. We went to the funeral home this morning to take care of some of the preparations while we are still somewhat clear headed. OK, so we are not so clear headed but we thought we should start planning. That was so difficult. So much for a short update. I ask that each of you take a moment and pray that mom has a smooth and peaceful transition from this life into the next.

Love to all, Lee Ann


SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2008 01:15 PM, CST
Good afternoon all! Just wanted to drop in for a quick update. Everything is about the same today. Mom did have a bit of a headache today which is out of the ordinary but I gave her a little more morphine and that seemed to take care of it. She also said that her stomach was hurting but the morphine seemed to take care of that pain also. At this point there isn't much we can do except to try and keep her comfortable. Derek, Nicki, Aliyah, Ashley, & Dustin came to see her today which was very good for her. She always enjoys seeing her grandkids and great-grandkids. I know this was difficult for them but I really appreciate them coming. We had several visitors yesterday too and want you all to know how much we appreciate it. It is nice to have visitors to help occupy our minds at this point. I would like to once again thank everyone who has traveled this journey with us. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family & friends. It is hard to believe that we have been traveling this journey for almost 5 months. Mom had been so brave, courageous, strong, graceful, etc. Thank you all for everything and God bless you.

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATE ON MOM

Good morning everyone! What a bitter cold day it is again in the Ozarks. Mom is still doing about the same. Hopefully today she will get some of her medications in liquid or patch form. We are also hopeful that she will get her appetite enhancer. I’m not sure how much good it will do but we are willing to try anything at this point. I am thankful that she is pretty much pain free other than when we have to roll her on her side. It seems that even if we touch her it hurts her. It breaks my heart to think that I am hurting her. It is hard to believe that it has been almost five months since we found out about the brain tumors. This has been the hardest five months of my life. I never dreamed that mom would have to go through something like this. I know that I have so much to be thankful for but some days it is really difficult. I know that it is so hard for her to lie in that bed and have to be taken care of. I can’t imagine how it must feel to have to depend on someone for everything. I was really praying that we would have some more quality time. I had hoped that the radiation would at least shrink the tumors so that mom could get back on her feet and enjoy life for a while, but I guess that wasn’t meant to be. I know that we are not supposed to question God’s plan, but on days like today that is really difficult. Well, here I am rambling again. Thank you all for everything that you do for our family & may God bless you all.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATES ON MOM

Good morning everyone! Hope you all have a safe day. The freezing rain is coming down as I type this. Will we have white Christmas? Mom is doing about the same. She still isn’t eating more than a few spoons of applesauce a couple of times a day to take her pills and it is a struggle to get her to do that. Sometimes I think that her brain just doesn’t tell her mouth to open and it gets frustrating for her. We are waiting to hear from the doctor to see if the appetite enhancer is an option for her. We are also waiting to see if they can switch some of her medication to patches or liquids. For the most part she seems pretty peaceful, but I really long to have my mom back. I miss all the things that we did together. She is not just my mom, but my best friend. Ok, I will get off my soapbox and just say, have a safe and warm day and God bless you all.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATE ON MOM

Good morning all! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mom is doing about the same today. She has trouble chewing and swallowing now so it is a challenge to get her to eat. We are crushing the pills that we can but there are still about 5 or 6 a day that she as to swallow. I know that my updates over the weekend were short but I am really struggling right now. I can’t stand to see her like this. She has always been the strong one. It has been over a month since she has been out of bed and the last couple of times have only been to go to the hospital. It kills me to see her so weak and frail. We are having the Sunday school class over on Saturday and I am hopeful that will cheer her up. Thanks to Aunt Sara for sitting with mom today so that Royce could visit the doctor. Thank you to everyone for all that you do and thank you for traveling this journey with us. I really don’t know what Royce, Graig, & I would do without all of you. To Larry & my kids & my friends (everyone), please bear with me, I know that I haven’t been real easy to get along with lately but I am doing the best that I can under the circumstances. God bless you all and have a great day.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATE

Good afternoon everyone! Hope you are all having a great day. I just talked to Royce a little bit ago and he had to call the nurse to come out as mom is having catheter problems again. I don’t understand why they can’t get this taken care of. It seems to be an ongoing problem which is very uncomfortable for mom. I would like to ask for a special prayer from all of you. One of the girls I work with lost her brother to cancer on Saturday at the young age of 46. Please say a prayer for the family of Maurice Forner, Jr or as we all know him “Junior”. He put up a good fight until the very end of his battle with this terrible disease. We will all miss him very much. Thank you again for all your thoughts, prayers, food, words of encouragement, etc. I can’t imagine traveling this journey without all of the support we receive from all of you. God bless you all.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATE

Good morning everyone! Hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! Mom is doing well today. They are going to start weaning her off the morphine pump and she will be going home sometime this week. She is very anxious to go home and it will be easier on everyone. I know that Royce is anxious to get home to his bed. The ostomy nurse will be in tomorrow and Royce will actually change her colostomy bag to be sure that he knows how to do it. I have had experience with this but we want to be sure that Royce can do this also. We will be having Hospice come in when we get home, but mom understands that she can still get better. She is so strong that she has survived things that the doctors didn’t think he could. She is a fighter. She told me the other day that she is not ready to give up and I told her that we are not ready to give up either. Please continue to pray for that miracle and God bless each of you who have faithfully traveled this journey with us. As I have said before, it is by the grace of God and all of your prayers that we make it from day to day. Please pray for peace and comfort for mom and strength for the rest of our family to continue to battle this terrible disease. Thank you to everyone for everything.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATE ON MOM

Good morning everyone. Hope you are all doing well today. I’m sitting with mom at the hospital so Royce can get out for a little bit this morning. Dr Lewis was in earlier and said things look good. He is going to order a PCA (pain pump) for mom so she can have the morphine when she needs it rather than having to call the nurse. She is still in a lot of pain but it is from the surgery and they expect that. It was a very major surgery so it will take a while for her to heal. When she is not hurting, she is sleeping which is what she really needs right now. The body heals while it is resting. She really wants the NG tube out but Dr Lewis says we have to discuss that with Dr Ashly (the surgeon). As long as the NG tube is in she is NPO (she can’t take anything by mouth) and I think she is anxious to have something to eat. The nurse just came in and she is hooking up the PCA so hopefully mom can get some relief from the pain. She says she just wants to go home but I have convinced her that we need to stay here a little longer so they can get her pain under control and make sure that everything is working right after the surgery. I just got off the phone with Gena Love and would like to ask everyone to pray for Marie Gillespie, Kenny & Connie Walker, and the rest of their family as I just learned that Jon Gillespie passed away about 8:oo this morning. They have done so much for our family and I want them to know we will do anything we can for them. God bless you all and thanks again for traveling this journey with us.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

NEW PICS

MORE PRAYERS PLEASE!!!

Good morning everyone. Hope you are all having a great day. I talked with Royce a little while ago and he said mom is resting. Dr Lewis was in this morning and said that everything went well, but it was a good thing that they caught it when they did. They didn’t think that mom was strong enough to survive the surgery but at that point she wouldn’t survive without it so there really was no choice. She proved them wrong and came through. She is still very sick and has a long road ahead of her, but she is a fighter. I’m sure that she is not going to be very happy about the colostomy bag but the doctors felt that it was necessary to go that route so that she could heal. We are hopeful that she will feel much better now that they have repaired the internal damage. It was very scary when they wheeled her away to surgery last night because the doctors were very unsure what the outcome would be, but thanks to everyone’s prayers I think she will heal and be ready to move ahead. Thanks to everyone for everything. Thank you to Bob & Gena Love, Dan & Linda Cone, and Sandy & Cathy Bowler for staying and supporting our family while mom was in surgery. I will update as soon as I have more news. God bless you all.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATE ON MOM

Good afternoon everyone! Hope you are all having a good day. I haven’t seen mom yet today but I have talked to Royce several times and he says she is doing about the same. Dr Lewis was in and said that we would take it one day at a time and see how she does. He said they will keep her until the issues that are causing her so much pain are taken care of as best as possible without surgery. I’m going up to the hospital right after work and if there are any changes I will update at that time. Please continue to pray for peace and comfort for mom. Thank you for traveling this journey with us. God bless you all.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

PRAYERS PLEASE!

Good morning everyone! Just wanted to give you a quick update. Mom was admitted to the hospital last night. After talking with the nurse we called for an ambulance and had her taken in because she was in a lot of pain. I won’t go into detail about all that is going on because mom would be very upset if I did so but I will tell you that she needs major abdominal surgery to fix the problems that she has going on. The doctors have decided that this is not an option for many reasons. First of all, she is so weak that she probably would not survive the surgery and if she did her immune system is so compromised that she probably would not heal from the surgery. Secondly, with her prognosis, they feel that surgery would not change the end result. They are going to keep her for a few days and try some things to correct as much of the problem, non-surgically, as possible to alleviate the pain. Once they get this taken care of they will send her home and call Hospice in. This is breaking my heart but we knew we would be at this point eventually. We were just hopeful that it would be a while. They have her on Dilaudid for pain which is very strong so she is out of it most of the time. I already miss her being coherent and communicating with us, but we are so grateful that she is not in pain. Dr. Lewis thinks that they can take care of some of the issues and maybe she won’t need the strong pain medication so maybe we will still have some quality time. Please pray for peace and comfort for mom and strength for the rest of our family. God bless you all and I hope you have a wonderful day.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

Mom is at St Johns in room #7252

UPDATE ON MOM

Good morning everyone! Hope that you are all doing well this morning. I come to you this morning with this update asking for extra prayers. The physical therapist was out yesterday and said that there is no reason for her to come back because mom is getting so weak. Royce & I have noticed her getting weaker this last week but haven’t discussed it. I guess we thought that if we didn’t talk about it then it wasn’t really happening. We spoke with Dr Nathan (the radiation oncologist) late yesterday evening and he increased her steroids. As many of you may remember, all of this started with the left side weakness. Increasing weakness can mean one of two things, either the tumors are growing or the brain is swelling. Unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done about either one except to increase the steroids, which will help some temporarily if it is swelling. Mom has also been having some terrible stomach pain for the last few days but they are not sure what that could be. Please pray that if a miracle is not to be that God doesn’t let her suffer. She was hurting a lot last night but we finally got it under control late last night. She didn’t want to go to the hospital so we just gave her some pain pills. She said this morning that it wasn’t hurting as bad. She has been eating so well that we thought she was going to get stronger but I guess that is not in God’s plan at this point. Royce will be calling Dr Lewis (the medical oncologist) this morning to see what else we can do to make mom more comfortable. She is such a trooper that she hardly ever complains so I know that the pain is almost unbearable if she is complaining. She told Royce last night that she couldn’t take the pain anymore but she didn’t want to go to the hospital. We are so thankful that the pain pills kicked in and finally started working. I will try to update later if we hear anything new from the doctor. Once again, thank you all for traveling this journey with us and please say an extra prayer for mom & our family. God bless you all.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann :(

NEW PICS OF MISS ALIYAH!

Nana's pretty girl!

Look mommy!

Me & Mommy!

Blowing a kiss to God!!!

UPDATE ON MOM

Good morning everyone! Hope you are all doing great today. Mom seems to be doing better today. We made it over the speed bumps yesterday and all is well. She ate very well this morning but she was too tired to work with the physical therapist. The therapist will continue to come for 2 more weeks and the aide will start coming Monday though Friday for the next 2 weeks since we have some issues right now. Graig and Larry have been working on cleaning up the yard and cutting tree limbs for the last few weeks so we have a good pile of brush to burn. Saturday night we are going to have a weenie and marshmallow roast and we are going to get mom in the wheelchair and try to get her out on the back porch. I think that it will be really good for her since she hasn’t been out of the house since her last radiation treatment. It will be nice for her to have the kids there too. Thank you all for everything and especially for your prayers as they continue to make good things happen for our family. By God’s grace and your prayers we continue to be lifted up even when things seem really bad. Thank for you for traveling this journey with us and I hope that you all have a terrific weekend. Please remember to leave a message for mom as she reads them daily and is so uplifted by your kindness. God bless you all.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATE ON MOM!

Good morning everyone! Hope you are all doing wonderful today. Mom is doing about the same. I think she might be getting a little stronger but not as quickly as we would like. The nurse will come today about 12:30 to check on her and then the aide will come this afternoon. The physical therapist will come on Tuesday and Thursday this week and she will evaluate whether she needs to keep coming. I am hopeful that she will continue to come at least until mom is able to get out of bed. Royce will be going for his flu shot tomorrow (I had mine week before last) as the doctor suggests that anyone who spends a lot of time with mom should have one so that we don’t bring the flu in to her. The good thing about her not being able to get out and about is that she isn’t exposed to anything. Her immune system is so compromised right now that even a cold could be devastating for her. She is once again not really wanting to eat & I know she must be really discouraged. I can’t imagine how she feels. I try so hard to stay positive, but sometimes it is really difficult, as I know it must be for her. I want to share a Bible verse with you that really touched me. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. I really felt that I needed to share that with you all today. I don’t know what God’s plan is for mom, but I have come to realize that I can no longer be selfish. I want her with me for many more years but I want her healthy. I am thankful for al the wonderful memories we have made with mom but I want to make many more. This awful disease has made me take a look at my life & count my blessings everyday. Every day is a blessing, but it is much more so with mom still with us. All of you who are traveling this journey with us are such a blessing to our family. Please pray for strength, understanding, and mostly for peace for mom (& our entire family) & please keep praying for that miracle. Thank you for taking time from your busy lives to travel this journey with us & thanks for helping us fight this fight. We continue to be lifted up & made stronger by God’s grace and your prayers, support, & encouragement. Sometimes we forget that we are not the only ones affected by this awful disease & I would like to ask that you pray for all of those afflicted with cancer and their families. A special thanks again to The First Baptist Church of Strafford for all that you all are doing to help us. I don’t know how we will ever repay you for all of your kindness. God bless you all & I hope that you have a wonderful day. Please keep the messages of encouragement coming as I feel like mom needs then now more than ever.

“God IS bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING

Good afternoon everyone! Once again, nothing much has changed. Royce called and said mom is resting well after her treatment today. It really wears her out. ONLY 2 MORE TREATMENTS TO GO!!!!!!! She is really glad of that as the radiation has really been hard on her. Hopefully she can build up some strength after she finishes. We see Dr Lewis (the medical oncologist) tomorrow and will see what he has to say about when she will resume the chemo. We will see Dr Nathan (the radiation oncologist) on Wednesday after her final treatment and see if he has any further plans. We all know that this is terminal, but are still praying for that miracle, and hope that in the meantime she can regain some strength and have some good quality of life. Miss Aliyah came to see great-grandma and grandpa on Saturday and mom got to see her walk. She smiled as Aliyah toddled everywhere. Mckinsy came to see them on Sunday which brought many smiles to her face also. It breaks my heart to know that these little girls will most likely not have their Grandma Glenda here to watch them grow and learn. Please continue to pray for that miracle and for strength for our family. Thank you for traveling this journey with us and thanks for everything you all are doing to help us. God bless you all.

“God is bigger than Cancer!”

Love, Lee Ann

UPDATE ON MOM

Good morning everyone! Hope you all had a good night. Mom had a long day yesterday and slept most of the afternoon but seemed to be in better spirits last night. Graig even had her laughing. Graig was able to help with mom before and after treatment yesterday and that went well. He will go again today and help and I think Royce is trying to cover the days when Graig or I can’t be there. For some reason they have added on an extra radiation treatment so her last treatment will be Thursday October 2nd. I am hopeful that after radiation is over they can decrease mom’s steroids and she will start getting stronger. Thank you to Robin Whitmore for a wonderful dinner last night. So many people are traveling this journey with us and helping every step of the way. We thank God for each and every one of you every day. Please continue to leave messages for mom in the guestbook as she enjoys them so much. I hope that each of you have a wonderful day. Please keep praying for that MIRACLE and may God bless you all.

“God is bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

MOM'S GOING HOME!!!!

Good morning everyone! Indeed it is a good morning. Mom is going home today. She had been having some stomach discomfort so they did an ultrasound last night and everything looked fine. They have an ambulance ordered to take her home this afternoon after her radiation. I wanted to share another bit of news with you. I was very upset yesterday when the insurance company refused to pay for her air mattress so we did a lot of praying and yesterday afternoon St John's Medical Supply called and said that they had an air mattress to deliver. Another prayer was answered. Graig met them to set it up and he says it is the same height as the wheelchair so it will be easier to transfer her. I know that mom will feel so much better at home. I went home last night and packed up my stuff so I can stay as long as I need to. I am still a little worried about Royce having to stay with her alone while Graig & I are working but we will pray about that also and I am sure God will see to it that everything works out. Mom still isn't eating a lot but she enjoys fresh fruit so once I get them settled this afternoon I will make a run to Sam's and see what I can find. I need to fix Royce some good meals to build his strength back up as he has lived mostly on hospital food for over a week. Well here I am rambling on again. I will try to update later after we get her home. God bless you all. Your prayers keep us going and continue to get us over the bumps in the road. Thank you all for everything.
"God is bigger than Cancer!"
Love to all, Lee Ann

THURSDAY UPDATE

Good morning everyone. Just wanted to give everyone a quick update. I know you’re thinking how long those quick updates are becoming but I will cut this one short. Mom is doing about the same today. They took out the catheter yesterday but they had to put it back in today. We were hoping that she wouldn’t have to have it in at home, but it appears that she will. The doctor is supposed to be setting things up for the air mattress at the house and to get the ambulance lined up to take her home as we cannot transport her. I left the hospital somewhat discouraged last night as she wasn’t very responsive to me and that is very upsetting. Please keep praying for strength and peace for her. I will update later if there is any news. As it stands we will be going home tomorrow. Royce just called me and said that the insurance won’t pay for the air mattress because mom’s bed sore is not deep enough. I’m willing to bet that the person at the insurance company who denied this has never suffered from a bed sore. The hospital bed that we borrowed has a gel top so the nurse thinks that she will probably do okay on it. God bless you all and please keep praying for that miracle.

“God is bigger than Cancer!”

Love to all, Lee Ann

WEDNESDAY UPDATE

Good afternoon everyone! Mom seems to be holding her own today. There really haven’t been any big changes. It looks like she will probably be able to go home Friday afternoon. She is still very sick but we can do everything at home that they are doing at this point. Please continue to pray for her as she still has several more radiation treatments which means once we get her home she will still have to go to town Monday thru Friday for treatment. They have not resumed the chemo yet, but the doctor indicated that they would probably resume it after she gets finished with the antibiotic that she is taking for the UTI and the infection in her blood. She is more responsive than she has been but she still doesn’t have much to say. This is all so very hard for her and she hates being dependent on us for everything. Before she went into the hospital she was at least able to feed herself and she can no longer do that. They seem to have finally gotten her blood sugar under control which was a chore in itself especially since she isn’t eating much. The doctor told us NOT to try to control her sugar intake at this point. They want us to let her eat anything, even if it is pure sugar, because she doesn’t have much of an appetite and she needs to gain some strength. She seems to have trouble chewing so we are trying to feed her soft things. She is eating a lot of blueberries, pineapple, strawberries, grapes, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, chocolate mousse, pudding, etc. We let her eat as much of these as she wants. I guess I will stock up on fruit before they go home. I know that Royce is anxious to get home and have a decent meal. I’ve tried to convince him that he needs to keep his strength up also so he needs to start eating better. I will work on that once we get them home. I will spend the weekend and try to help them get into a routine. I’m not sure mom will be getting out of bed much except to go for radiation treatments, so Royce will be renting an air mattress like the one she is on at the hospital for home. Please bear with me as I know that I seem to be rambling, but I always leave something out and don’t realize it until someone calls and asks about something. This journal gets harder to update everyday as I see mom failing more and more, but I want to thank all of you loyal people who check it everyday and leave her messages. She really enjoys hearing from everyone. Please continue to pray for that miracle and pray for our entire family as this is really taking a toll on everyone and some days we feel really lost. It is by the grace of God and all of your prayers that we are able to hold up to the pressures brought on through this journey. On the days when things are really bad, we rally together and press forward. It seems hard to believe that a week has gone by since mom was so very critical that the doctors didn’t think she was going to pull through. I believe with all my heart that we witnessed a miracle that night. The doctor had asked if we wanted her put on a ventilator if it came to that, because her breathing was so labored, and we expressed her wishes on that matter which was so difficult for us as we were not ready to let her go. We watched her blood pressure plummet and her breathing became more and more labored. She was so sick & fragile and then……. Pastor Dennis showed up. We gathered around her and he prayed the most beautiful prayer and almost immediately her breathing became less labored. That was a miracle, because the doctor had given us no hope at that point. Mom is still so very sick, but she is so much better that she was a week ago. MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!!!! I have added some links about Glioblastoma Multiforme at the top of the page. Just click on the links tab and you can find out a little more about this disease. This is a terribly aggressive and devastating disease, but mom is a fighter and I believe she will continue to fight this with what little strength she has left. I will get off my soapbox now and quit rambling. Thanks again for traveling this journey with us. God bless you all.
“God is bigger than Cancer!”
Love to all, Lee Ann

Pictures for mom for her birthday

SATURDAY UPDATE

Good morning everyone! I think mom is feeling a little better today. Her appetite is coming back little by little. We didn’t have a very good night as they didn’t give her her Trazadone (sleeping med) or her Mirapex (restless leg medicine). The doctor said this morning that he would see that she gets her Trazadone tonight. She has also developed a bed sore which is extremely uncomfortable. They have put a patch on the sore to help clear it up and they have ordered her an air mattress. They have taken her off the oxygen as she doesn’t seem to need it anymore which is great. We are very hopeful that she will build some strength back up over the weekend so she can resume the radiation and chemo. We had a very close call on Wednesday, but she is not ready to give up the battle yet. Meredith & Audrey made it in last night and it was very good to see them. I think it really lifted Royce’s spirits. Graig & Larry are going to pick up a hospital bed and set it up at the house tomorrow so that will make things much easier when we get mom home. They have not indicated to us yet when they think she might go home but we don’t believe that it will be anytime real soon. She is still very sick and they need to get her infection under control before we go home. That would have been easier if the infection hadn’t gotten in her blood stream, but it has so it will be a little tougher to get a handle on. They seem to FINALLY be getting her blood sugar under control. It was 221 this morning which is still high, but very good compared to 350-500 it has been running. They made some adjustments to her insulin yesterday and are making some more today. I believe that once they get rid of the infection and get her blood sugar under control she will feel much better. She did ask for some pain pills a little while ago which is unusual for mom as she usually only takes a pain pill about twice a week. I am hoping that she is just hurting because of the bed sore and because she didn’t sleep last night. She is resting comfortably right now which is what we have been praying for. I will try to update again later today. I think I will go home tonight and sleep if she is doing okay. We have a nice big room here with two beds so Royce has a place to sleep also, but I don’t think I can handle this recliner another night. (Of course, my leaving will depend on how mom is feeling later). Thank you again to everyone for everything. Thanks for traveling this journey with us & pray that this is only another speed bump in her road to recovery. Thank you all for prayers, support, & encouragement! We are lifted up and made stronger everyday by God’s grace and your prayers, kindness, comments, & support. God bless you all.
“God is bigger than Cancer!”
Love to all, Lee Ann

FRIDAY UPDATE

Good morning! Mom seems to be feeling about the same today. She is complaining of her stomach hurting which was a little concerning since she never complains but Dr Lewis (the medical oncologist) was in this morning and checked her out and thinks everything is ok. He said that the infection had gotten into her blood which we were hoping had not happened. We were hopeful that it was contained in the urinary tract but that is not the case, so they have changed her antibiotic once again. On the upside she seems to be getting her appetite back a little today. Dr Lewis says we can put in a feeding tube if needed but he would rather not as long as she is at least taking some liquid nourishment. He said they prefer not to put in a feeding tube in patients that are terminal. He is going to go ahead and hold her chemo again today and he said Dr Nathan (the radiation oncologist) will decide whether or not she will have radiation today. I mentioned to Dr Lewis that Hospice had called the house and he was very surprised by this because he had not ordered this and he and Dr Nathan had not discussed it. He says he believes once mom builds her strength back up she can resume her chemo. Dr Nathan has not been in yet so I haven't been able to ask him, but I suspect that Dr Benedict has ordered it and she really has no idea what is happening with mom at this point. We know that GBM is terminal, but we still have God on our side and miracles do happen. We almost lost mom on Wednesday night and I believe that God chose to give us more time. Thank you to everyone who has called, visited, prayed, etc. Thank you to Aunt Pat for everything she is doing and thank you to Linda Cone who is at the house cleaning as I type this. It has been so good having Pat this week. She has been such a help to Royce (and all of us) and it has lifted his spirits. I can tell you from experience that having someone else around, if just to talk to, while caring for someone with moms prognosis is so helpful. Graig and I would give anything to be able to be there every day but the reality of it is that we need our jobs. We can't thank Royce enough for taking such wonderful care of our mother. He told us from the beginning that he would treat her like a queen and he continues to do that and I know that some days that is very challenging as she can't even feed herself at this point. We are anxiously awaiting Meredith & Audrey's arrival this evening. It will be so good to see them and I am hopeful that it will boost Royce's spirits. It is so hard for all of us to keep our spirits up when we seem to be losing the battle everyday and everything is spiraling out of control. We are very encouraged that she has more of an appetite today. We would like to thank everyone here at St John’s for everything. The staff here is wonderful. We are on the Cancer Floor in room 7259. These are the most compassionate people in the world. So much for a short update. God Bless you all.
“God is bigger than Cancer!”
Love to all, Lee Ann

UPDATES ON MOM

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 04:25 PM, CDT
Just wanted to give you all a quick update. Dr Nathan (the radiation oncologist) and Dr Lewis (the medical oncologist) were both in this morning. They have decided to hold the chemo and radiation for a day or two and see how mom is doing at that point. Her breathing is so much better today but she is so weak. She ate about 4 bites of a pancake today and that is it so far. I tried to get her to eat some lunch but all she wants to do is sleep. The not eating isn't good but it is not as much of an issue here as at home because they are pumping a lot of fluids through her IV. They indicated to us that she will not be going home anytime real soon as she is very sick. They are hoping to get her back on track to resume the chemo & radiation but there are no guarantees at this point. They did a CT scan of her chest today to check for blood clots but we haven't heard the results of that yet. They have decided to hold off on doing an MRI to check on the brain tumors at this time because the radiation causes swelling so it would be hard to tell at this point if the tumors are shrinking or not. We are a little confused at this point because Pat just called and said that Hospice has called the house and said that the doctor (we are not sure which one) has requested that they be called in. This is the first we have heard about this so we are unsure where things will go from here. I am so scared that we are quickly losing this battle and I am not ready for that. Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT want mom to suffer, but I am not ready to let her go yet either. We were talking last night about how quick all of this has happened and maybe that is why I am having such a hard time processing everything. Two months ago mom was, as far as we knew, just fine and now it seems that she is fading quickly. I think that she is giving up but I don't blame her. A body can only take so much. She has fought this as best she could but GBM is extremely aggressive. We still believe that God can give us our miracle and want you to continue to pray for that, but would also like you to pray that if a miracle is not to be, please pray for peace for mom. She told us the day we found out about these tumors that she is not afraid of dying, she is just afraid of leaving us behind. I'm afraid too because I can't imagine life without her. Thank you again to each and everyone of you for everything that you have done and for traveling this journey with us. God bless you all and please keep praying.
"God is bigger than Cancer!"
Love to all, Lee Ann




THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 06:37 AM, CDT
Good morning everyone! Unlike the last few days, there is a lot to update this morning. When we went to wake mom for dinner last night she was struggling to breathe, was very pale, her blood pressure was 83/41, and she wasn't very responsive. After speaking with the doctor, Royce called 911. By the time we got to the hospital she was not doing well at all and the doctor told us that we needed to be prepared and ask if we wanted her put on a ventilator if it came to that. Mom has made it very clear that is not what she wants and we all knew that we couldn't be selfish in making this decision. I cannot begin to tell you how hard it was for us to tell the doctor this, as we knew we could be at that point very soon. We did a lot of praying and handed it over to God and once again our prayers have been answered. She is not out of the woods by no means but her breathing is not as labored this morning. She has a urinaring tract infection and is septic so she is still extremely ill, but they are pumping her full of antibiotics and fluids and trying to flush the toxins from her system. The doctors should start making their rounds soon and I will update when we know more. Thank you to everyone (I won't list all the names as it was very hectic and I'm not sure I can remember who all was here) who came to the hospital to support us last night. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers and for taking time from your busy lives to travel this journey with us. God bless you all and remember to take a moment today to tell those who are important to you just how much you love them because we never know when we might not have that chance again. Please keep praying for our miracle.
"God is bigger than Cancer!"
Love to all, Lee Ann

MONDAY'S UPDATE

Good afternoon! Hope you all are doing well today. Mom is about the same, which in itself is good news I suppose. She is still incredibly weak and she isn't eating much. On a brighter note, she had radiation treatment #15 today which means she is halfway finished. Once she finishes her radiation she will also stop the chemo for about a month. Then when she starts the chemo again she will take it for 5 days and be off for 23 days. It is my understanding that this process could continue for quite a while but I guess they will give us more information as we get closer to the end of radiation. Next Tuesday she will be seeing Dr Ledger's PA to see if we can get her blood sugar under control. I know she will feel much better if we can get a handle on that. Thank you to the Scrivener's and the Gromer's for the dinner Saturday night from Cracker Barrel. Please forgive me if I overlook thanking anyone for anything. Some days I have so much going on in my head that I'm sure I forget to acknowledge what some of you have done. PLEASE forgive me. Once again I want to thank everyone of you for everything but I would like to send a special thank you to The Strafford First Baptist Church. You people are AWESOME! God has blessed us by putting each and everyone of you in our lives and I'm sure that he will bless you for all that you have done. A special thank you also goes out to Michele Eden as she made mom feel so special the other day by putting on her make-up and helping her get ready to go to treatment. I think we get so busy with our day to day lives that we sometimes forgot how important the little things are and we take things for granted. I continue to pray for that miracle every day and know that it can still happen. You all have done some much for us, but I would like to ask you do one more thing. I would like to ask each of you to take the time out of your busy schedule today and tell the people that you love how important they are to you because we never know when we won't have the chance to do that again. I will get off my soapbox now and quit rambling. God bless you all.
"God is bigger than Cancer!"
Love, Lee Ann

Update on mom!

Good morning everyone! Talked to mom about 6:20 this morning and she said they had a good night last night. Dr Nathan decreased her steroids yesterday so she doesn't have to get up at midnight to take them which makes it easier for her and Royce to get a good nights sleep. Thank you to Michelle Eden for a wonderful dinner last night and thanks for offering to come and help mom & Royce this morning. They are looking forward to it. They should have a fairly easy day today (I guess easy isn't really the word for it as no day is easy at this point). Mom only has radiation today. Tomorrow will be a busy day as she has blood work, radiation, and will see Dr Lewis. We will discuss whether to continue the chemo as it is really making her weak. Royce, Graig, & I talked about this last night and we will talk with mom tonight and see what she wants to do. We will keep our opinions to ourselves and let her make the decision. Her hair is starting to fall out so my dear friend Rikki will come out tomorrow after we get home from treatment and cut her hair. She picked out a wig the other day and she has several hats. Mom & Royce's friends, John & Pat Weaver from Memphis, will be coming on Saturday and staying next week to help. I just can't find the words to express our gratitude to everyone for all that you are doing for our family. I would also like to say thank you to Linda Cone as I ran into her at Harter House yesterday and I was really struggling with my emotions and after visiting with her I felt much better. This short entry has turned quite long so I will wrap up with this, we thank God for each and every one of you every day. Please keep praying and sending mom messages through the guestbook as most days this is the highlight of her day. God bless you all!
"God is bigger than Cancer!"
Love to all Lee Ann

Update

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update. Mom started her radiation today. Everything went pretty well. We will see the medical oncologist tomorrow to find out when she will start chemo. We are hopeful that the chemo will be oral which will make it a little easier on her. Please check out the daily updates @ www.caringbridge.org/visit/glendamalter and sign the guestbook. She looks forward to reading her messages every day. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Please pray for mom!!!!!!!!

I would like to once again ask everyone for their prayers. For those of you who have not been checking the website, they biopsied moms brain tumors last Tuesday and they are glioblastoma multiforme which is not good. The prognosis is very poor but they are going to start treatments (radiation & chemo) this week. We are praying for a miracle. I was on vacation last week and was able to spend the whole week with them. It was really hard to leave her and go home last night and come back to work today. You can check out the daily updates I post at www.caringbridge.org/visit/glendamalter. Please check out this site and leave her a message in the guestbook as we print these for her to read every day and she enjoys them. Thanks for your prayers.

PLEASE SAY LOTS OF PRAYERS

I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ASK EVERYONE TO PLEASE SAY LOTS OF PRAYERS FOR MY MOM. WE FOUND OUT ON SUNDAY THAT SHE HAS 2 TUMORS IN HER BRAIN STEM THAT ARE GROWING VERY RAPIDLY AND THEY ARE INOPERABLE. WE ARE WAITING FOR THE DOCTORS TO DECIDE WHAT COURSE OF ACTION WE TAKE. PLEASE PRAY FOR A MIRACLE. THANKS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS. YOU CAN CHECK OUT UPDATES ON MOM @ www.caringbridge.org/visit/glendamalter

LEE ANN

JAPANESE STROLL GARDEN

THANK YOU!!!

Just wanted to take a moment to say a great big "THANK YOU" to everyone who donated to our Relay For Life. We raised over $2400.00 (our goal was $2000.00) and the entire Republic Relay raised $153,689.98. The goal was $130,000.00 so we were thrilled. Thanks again to everyone who helped us.

NEW PICS

LOOK HOW MUCH NANA'S GIRL HAS CHANGED

7 MONTHS
6 MONTHS

5 MONTHS

4 1/2 MONTHS

3 1/2 MONTHS

2 1/2 MONTHS

2 MONTHS

3 WEEKS

NEWBORN

Relay For Life!!!!!!

Just wanted to remind everyone that my team and I will be walking in the Relay For Life at the Republic Middle School Track on Friday June 20, 2008 from 7:00PM until 7:00Am on Saturday. Hope you all can come and hang out with us. It's sure to be lots of fun. There will be lots of games, food, and a silent auction for some wonderful baskets. Most of our lives have been touched by cancer in some way. I have lost friends and family to cancer, but I also have several family members and friends who are cancer survivors. Please join us to Celebrate those who are winning the battle against cancer, Remember those we have lost to cancer, & Fight Back against this terrible disease. Hope to see you all there and a huge THANK YOU to those who have donated to our team. Our team goal this year was $2000 and we have raised a little over $1600 so far. Thanks again and hope you can join us!

TOPEKA KANSAS DRAG RACES!!!!!!

HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA KANSAS

ASHLEY FORCE



JOHN FORCE