Services and Lodging Information

Our family will be receiving callers on Tuesday, June 15 from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. at the Perincheif Chapels located at 438 High Street; Mount Holly, NJ 08060. Service and Interment will be private.

We are asking that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to one of the two following organizations in Mom's name:

Virtua CARE Foundation
P.O. Box 7012
Bellmawr, NJ 08099
*Virtua CARE Foundation supports the employees of the Virtua Hospital in the event that they come across hard times. The Foundation provides meals, transportation, financial, and other assistance to employees and their families. We chose this program because without the support of all of the employees of the hospital, the last few weeks would have been much more difficult to bear.


Special Olympics of New Jersey
Phone: 609/896-8000
Email: info@sonj.org
Click here for more information
*The Special Olympics program is near and dear to Brian's heart and it is something that he has been involved with and supported for a long time. Mom was always proud of Brian for the work he did with the Special Olympics program here.

For those of you coming in from out of town, a list of local hotels, directly off of the NJ Turnpike (Exit 5) is below. I don't have any idea of any rates at any of these hotels, but I'm sure their websites can give you all of that information.

Best Western Inn Burlington
2020 County Road 541
Westampton, NJ 08060
Phone: 609/261-3800
Click here for more information

Hampton Inn Westampton
2024 County Road 541, RD 1
Westampton, NJ 08060
Phone: (609) 702-9888
Click here for more information

Hilton Garden Inn
111 Hancock Lane
Westampton, NJ 08060
Phone: (609) 702-1600
Click here for more information

I'd like to thank everyone for the overwhelming support that has been provided to our family during this time. There are no words to describe how much we appreciate everything that everyone has done and we sincerely hope that you all know not only how much you mean to us, but how much your actions and kind words over the last few days and weeks have touched our hearts.

With love and gratefulness,
Mike, Michelle, and Brian

Friday Morning

Sue went to be with God this morning around 7:00am. She went peacefully in her sleep, and she is now in a better place. We will let everyone know about the arrangements which will be next week. Thank you all for your prayers, love, and support the past 4 weeks. We love you all.

Love,
Brian <3

Thurs. 6/10

This is very difficult. We have been advised by the entire medical team that Sue has an extemely minimal chance of surviving and if she does, there are serious questions about what quality of life she will have. Sue has deteriorated on several fronts however, as of last night she was resting fairly comfortably. Michelle, Brian and I are struggling with decisions we must make as we go forward. I can only ask that you pray for Sue and the 3 of us as we look for God's answers and direction. We continue to have hope. We have Nancy and her family, as well as Dad and Joan here to provide support. Love to all, Mike

Monday Night 06/07/10

The last couple of days have shown small improvements for Mom. Her blood pressure has held on its own pretty well over the last few days; so well that the doctors have taken her off of the continuous dialysis and began traditional dialysis treatments. Tonight was her first traditional dialysis treatment - it was started after a day of making her do the breathing on her own, with the respirator still in, and with a bit of a fever. Although these weren't the most ideal conditions to begin a dialysis treatment, the doctors went ahead and started. Mom's blood pressure remained high enough during the dialysis, but her heart rate was a little high (due to both the fever and all of the work that she did on her own today) - some of the time on dialysis was used only to filter her blood, and some was used for removing fluid. For her first treatment, they were able to remove about 30% of the ideal amount of fluid; considering what a day it was for Mom, everyone seemed pleased with the results of this treatment. We don't know yet if the dialysis will be daily at first or not. Typically dialysis treatments are done at the hospital on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday or Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday schedule, but the treatments can be done daily if needed.

The respirator is down to giving Mom 40% oxygen and the respiratory team is working to get her used to breathing on her own again. She could be extubated as soon as tomorrow, but we don't know for sure. Right now, we're pleased seeing the oxygen levels being reduced and seeing her do some of the breathing on her own.

Dad went to church on Sunday with Jim and Joan. Our wonderful next door neighbor Carla and her two little boys were there and Dad made sure they all sat together. Carla introduced Dad to a few different people within the church. On Sunday afternoon, Dad told me that he had met a "nightingale" at church that morning. I must have given him quite the look and asked him to elaborate on this "bird woman" and he explained to me that she has offered to have the church help us out with meals, prayers, and support for Mom and our family. So in other words, as I put it, we now have our very own Fairy God Mother! (I keep thinking how very excited Mom will be to know that her family has its own Fairy God Mother!) Turns out this Fairy God Mother also works in Physical Therapy and went to visit Mom on Sunday afternoon and did some range of motion with her and also said some prayers.

Behind every Fairy God Mother is an army of dedicated and amazing people who are willing to help and pitch in to make things a little easier for us, and this case is no different. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the entire church knows Dad at this point and close to half of them seemed to have called to offer kind words, support, and help in various ways. One of the Pastors came by the hospital today and spent some time with Dad, Brian, and me. We also received word from the church office that we will be getting dinners on Wednesday and Friday this week from some of the church members. I have to say that these people are truly amazing and it is very touching to know that they are willing to do so much to help us in this time of need. The outpouring of love and support from our family has been a huge comfort, but to receive it from complete strangers is a truly a blessing in disguise and I find that I am filled with an immense amount of joy each time I think of the pure good that all of these people are doing for us. In fact, it's pretty overwhelming sometimes and I wish I knew how to properly thank everyone that has been here for us.

We wish Jim and Joan luck and love on their travels and thank them for being able to be here with us this past weekend. It was one of the lower points on the roller coaster of emotions that this experience has been, but having the two of them here helped to ease some of the pain and frustration that we were feeling. We expect them to be back in our area in the next few weeks and look forward to Mom being better for their next visit.

Keep the prayers, good vibes, and positive thoughts coming our way! Hugs and kisses to you all...

Sat. morning update

Sue had to go back on the respirator early Friday morning, not long after Michelle and I left the hospital on Thurs. night. This was really not a surprise given how she was struggling with her breathing. She had a build up of CO2 in her system. Sue was resting comfortably all day Fri. and her blood pressure returned to normal (yippee) and the BP pressor was discontinued early in the day. The staff is giving her just enough sedation to keep her comfortable on the respirator and actually was on none through most of the day. She is only on 50% oxygen which is also a good thing. Sue's color was much better also. We await some new lab results and a report from the docs this morning and trust this will be a short and minor setback.

My Dad and Joan arrived yesterday. It is great to see them and their support has been super and needed. We all had a nice early dinner at Wegman's, then went back to the hospital for a while, came home for dessert and then J&J went to their hotel to sleep.

Please keep praying. Mike

Thurs. night update

Mike here as sub for Michelle. Well, things never move in a straight line forward and we have to report that Sue has had somewhat of a setback. On Tues. she had a procedure done to move her intravenous and dialysis lines to a less infection prone method and location in her upper chest, and was done in the OR. This required some sedation. Although Sue came around fairly quickly after this minor surgery, she just has not been as good since. She has been sleeping a lot. We are not sure what the cause, but we think it may be in part slow recovery from the anesthesia. Sue also has had some minor fluid build up in her lungs, but that seemed better tonight after the dialysis was stepped up some and some additional vitamin therapy. Sue's blood pressure has fallen some and tonight they gave her some blood and put her back on a small amount of BP pressor and it immediately came back up. We were pleased with that, however, tonight Sue was not as responsive as she has been. We will see what tomorrow brings and look forward to better reports. Many other signs continue to be stable or somewhat better. The doctors and nurses have continued to keep us very well informed, and we are thankful to have them all.

All of this is in God's hands and we feel secure knowing our faith will carry us through this. There is a saying "Let go and let God" which this late evening has particularly strong meaning and has provided us some peace. Our love to all and keep those prayers and blog responses coming.

Tuesday...June 1

Whoa...June already. Hard to believe 2010 is about half way over!

Each day that passes finds Mom getting a bit better - some days, it's big things, some days, it's baby things, but the progression has been and is still very much in a forward motion. Although she has been off of the blood pressure medication for about two full days now, there have been a few times where her blood pressure has dropped, so for now, the doctors are keeping her on the continuous dialysis, as it is much more gentle than a traditional dialysis treatment. She is and has been responding very well to the antibiotics the doctors and nurses have given her and she is over or getting over the infections.

Mom keeps us busy while we are visiting her...getting her comfortable, changing the channel or adjusting the volume on the TV, showing her new magazines, or just providing some comic relief. She is still having some trouble talking, but when she really wants you to know what she's saying, believe me, you know it! The nurse told me today that when they were moving her this morning she said "That's enough!" - I had flash backs to the days Brian and I heard that statement (more than once) - just knowing that she's letting the nurses know how she's feeling makes me happy. I really think that sometimes she's giving me that look that says "you're here again?" - I just keep telling her that her room is a quiet place to read. Truth is, I don't really want to be anywhere else right now.

We sadly said goodbye to Sara and Tony this morning; we will miss the help around the house and the company! Each day they were here, each of the things on our daily list was taken care of promptly, and I must say, it was nice to have Aunt Sara helping to get dinner ready. Both the front and back yards look absolutely beautiful and that couldn't have happened without Tony here this past week. We enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, and corn to celebrate Memorial Day yesterday. Ruckus made new friends, as he always does, and seemed a little down when they didn't return this afternoon. Also impressive to note - our cat - who does not typically take well to people - came right on down as soon as they got here and didn't hide once during their visit. This cat knows good people when he sees them! Thank you to Aunt Sara and Uncle Tony for all of your help and support...it was so nice to have you here with us during this time! Love you!

Keep the prayers, good vibes, and positive thoughts coming our way! Hugs and kisses to you all...