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...

Sunday Update

This is Mike filling in for Michelle. Sue continues to improve, she is now completely off all of the blood pressure stabilizers. Her BP is in a very good range and holding. The plan is for this to continue for about a day or so and then they will stop the continuous dialysis and begin a periodic treatment program. The wonderful thing about this next step is that the staff will be able to begin a physical therepy program and begin to gain strength. Sue is still being fed through a line, I can't remember if intravenous or through the tube in her nose - likely have another more extensive swallowing test after the holiday and then begin to eat and drink orally. Sue is very alert and does her best to talk but her voice is still weak and her throat dry if you can imagine. She is in fairly good spirits, but naturally frustrated with being stuck in bed. Her wit and sense of humor (and oh yes at times sarcasm) is helping to pass the time.

It is a beautiful day here, I went to church this AM, two weeks for me in a row now after many years of not going. I like the folk band and casual atmosphere at the early service. I am doing my best to trust in God and let him do his thing with Sue. I recognize this is a miracle of sorts and that only God and Sue's inner strength have gotten us to this point.

Sara and Tony have been just great and lots of support and they plan to return home on Tues. We will miss them. Tony and Brian did the mulching in the yard, and Michelle did some planting, so our project of sorts is now done, something midstream when Sue was first admitted. I am grateful to all the many different hands that helped get it all complete. Sue wants to see pictures of the new patios and driveway. Marc is on the way now with a dozen or so photos on his laptop. Michelle and Brian are doing well and its great to have them around all the time.

Love, Mike (for Michelle)

Thursday Update

Well it's Thursday and honestly, I'm not really sure how that happened. Sometimes the days seem long and sometimes they just fly by and all run together.

Yesterday I went into work for a little bit and I picked a good day to do it because Mom spent a lot of the day sleeping and we had a pretty busy day at the shop/office too. She told the nurse that she had an upset stomach in the morning and what they gave her made her tired and she spent most of the day sleeping, which I'm sure is a good thing right now. Last night, Marc got a big grin out of her while we were visiting and it gave us all a good laugh.

Everything continues to progress slowly in a positive direction. Mom's blood pressure has begun to hold its own and the nurses have been backing her off blood pressure medication. When she first went in, she was on three, and they have gotten her down to one and they are reducing how much they are giving her each day. The doctors tell us that once she can maintain her blood pressure they will be able to take her off the continuous dialysis and start her on a daily or every other day treatment until the kidney function returns to normal.

Sara and Tony have been holding down the fort at home...keeping things clean, getting dinner ready, running out to our beloved Wegman's to pick up some groceries. It's been a huge help and it's a relief for Dad, Brian, and I to have them pitching in. (Tony has been performing hard labor for most of his time here, so he may be a little sorry he came!)

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

Yesterday Was A Great Day!

Yesterday was a great day...even the doctor said so! Mom was awake enough yesterday morning for the respirator to be removed. Later in the day, the feeding tube that was giving her what I can only assume was one delicious "milkshake" full of good stuff was also removed. With that, Mom started trying to talk to us. My girlfriend Amy came up from Dover, DE to offer some support for us, so her and I spent the morning getting things done around the house and then went and enjoyed lunch. Dad called to let me know the respirator was out and said that Mom instantly became more aware.

By the time I got to the hospital just after lunch yesterday, Mom was a little tired out from talking to Aunt Nancy and Dad through the morning, but she was very responsive and was answering questions and trying to talk. Although it's a little hard to understand her, we're getting the basic idea...and really just enjoying her being awake. Sometimes we ask her to repeat what she said and if we don't get it after a few times she just shrugs her shoulders and looks at us like we're insane! It's nice to see her getting back to herself!

After dinner, Dad, Aunt Nancy, Marc, and I went back to the hospital to see Mom and say goodnight. After spending a few minutes with her, she told me she needed to get out of bed and when I asked why, her answer was simply because she had things to do at the house. Ha! I then told her not to worry, she was going to hang out there for a while, let the nurses and doctors get her better - in the meantime, I was staying at the house and it was clean, everyone had clean towels, and good meals. Then she rolled her eyes at me! I couldn't believe it! (Guess I'll never do it all as well as she does, but that was the best eye roll I ever received from my mother!)

Aunt Nancy has been so amazing while she's been here this last week and we are very grateful for her coming out to be with us during this time; we are really going to miss her when she leaves today (we're also going to miss her broccoli which always seems to be perfect!). She and Ruckus became fast friends and I'm sure he's going to miss their daily walks through the neighborhood. Thank you Aunt Nancy for everything...the support you've provided, both emotionally, and in the household. Let's get you out to Jersey on better terms next time. Love you!

Today also finds us welcoming Dad's sister Sara and her husband Tony. I haven't seen them in quite some time, so I'm pretty excited to have them staying with us. I think Dad is excited to have Tony here so that he, Brian, and Marc have an extra set of hands in all of the mini-projects going on around the house (imagine what the four of them can accomplish!). Since Mom has been at the hospital, the new patio area out back has been completely finished and the new driveway and walkway have been poured out front (forgot to mention to you all that the house has been a construction zone all week!). The flower beds are all coming around and are ready for flowers. Lucky for Mom she'll just get to enjoy it all!

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

Sunday Morning Quick Update/Blog Info

Good morning! Dad just called me from the hospital and said Mom is coming around quite a bit this morning, so we are very excited about that!

I am getting all of the emails that everyone is sending...it's just been hectic and I plan to get back to all of you sometime today or tomorrow. A few people have had some problems with posting comments, so I wanted to give you all a little information that (hopefully) is helpful.

You'll need to be "signed in" in order to leave a comment. If you have a Google account (gmail, picasa, even blogspot) you can use that information to sign in. There are a few other accounts that can be used as sign in (AIM - the AOL instant messenger is one). To leave a comment, click on the "comment" below each post (sometimes, this reads "3 comments" or however many comments have been posted). At the bottom of the page will be a text box that you can type your comments into; from the drop down menu below, you can select an account to use (this is where your gmail, AIM, or other account will be used) and sign in that way. You may need to create a new account, but it will only take a few moments for you to do that.

We'd love for everyone to leave a quick note for Sue because once she comes around, we can bring the blog up on her TV in her room and she'll be able to read them.

If you get really jammed up with this, send me an email and we'll work through it some more.

Today is going to be a great day...I just have a feeling!
Keep the prayers, good vibes, and positive thoughts coming our way! Hugs and kisses to you all...

Mid-day Saturdary update

Many people are asking for an update, and Michelle is a little busy so I am filling in. The past couple days have found Sue in pretty much of a holding pattern which means only that there have been no major breakthroughs. She continues to gain strength, but of course several issues remain. Sue is almost entirely breathing on her own. Cat scans of both her abdomen and head were done this morning and both showed no major concerns. The doctors are just waiting for her to become a little more alert and then they will extubate her.

I have received quite an education in medical terms over the last week, although quite frankly I could really have done well without it - if you know what I mean.

This process is agonizingly slow for all of us, but we are more hopeful as each day passes. Sue has been my best friend, lover and foundation for so long. I just miss being able to chat with her so much.

Michelle, Brian, Nancy as well as some of Michelle's friends have done a great job of holding down the fort here on Kensington Dr. I am particularly grateful to Marc (Michelle's boyfriend) who has gone way above and beyond in many, many ways. We have been trying to have a meal together each night which is good for all of us to see where we all are and just talk some. This is the best part of the day, other than visiting Sue. Looking forward to Sara and Tony's visit some time next week.

Please feel free to leave some comments so we can share them with Sue. If I could figure out how to do this update, surely you all can figure out how to post also.

Love,

Mike

Thursday Update...

Hello everyone! We received another positive report this morning from the nurses and doctors at the hospital. Sue is doing most of the breathing on her own and they are considering taking her off of the respirator as soon as today. They have stopped the sedation and are waiting for her to wake up on her own so they can see how she will do without the respirator breathing for her. They won't be able to take her off of the respirator until she starts to wake up and they told us that it could be a couple of days before all of the sedation medication is out of her system. While we were visiting with her this morning, she was moving one of her shoulders around and was bobbing her head a little bit, so to us, that is showing that the sedation is wearing off. Her vitals are all looking pretty good right now, but they are still using some medication to keep her blood pressure up.

I also wanted to let everyone know that mom's sister Nancy has come from Greensburg, PA to be with us. She came in on Monday and we are all very happy to have her with us. Aunt Nancy has been a huge help around the house and at the hospital. I know that Mom knows she's here and I know that Mom is just as appreciative as we are.

I found a quote yesterday that said "It doesn't matter how slowly you go, as long as you don't stop"...Brian found it also...and in his own words "Baby steps, Ma, baby steps."

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

Thank You!

We first would like to say thank to all of our family and friends for the enormous amount of support you all have shown us during this difficult time. We are extremely appreciative of everything that everyone has done and will never be able to show enough thanks to all of you.

As I'm sure you can imagine, we are finding it a bit overwhelming to keep up with everyone who is "Checking In On Sue" and we thought this would be the best way to keep many of you informed of her progress.

Most importantly we want to stress to everyone what the doctors have been stressing to us - this is going to be a long process, we are not going to see any major improvements, only "baby steps". While that is frustrating for us (and for many of you), we are taking great joy in the tiny improvements that we are seeing each day and doing our best not to get discouraged at the waiting. While much of this is a "two steps forward, one step back" kind of thing, the doctors feel that although slowly, Sue is heading in the right direction.

Today was a very good day - we received several reports of positive progression in small amounts in a few areas. Sue's respiratory system is slowly getting better; all of these levels are within normal ranges and the doctors have pulled back on both the amount of oxygen she is being given and the amount of work the respirator is doing for her. She has also begun to show some improvement in levels that indicate that her kidneys are also heading in a positive direction and that the dialysis is doing what it is supposed to be doing for her.

We feel very blessed to have such amazing people working at the hospital. Each and every employee of the hospital, from the nurses and doctors to the lab technicians and housekeeping staff have been truly compassionate and supportive during this time. They are all communicating very thoroughly with us and ensuring that we understand what is being done and why. We couldn't ask for anything more and want you all to know that Sue is receiving the absolute best care possible from truly wonderful people.

We may not be able to update every day, but will try our best as we know many of you are interested in Sue's progress. Keep the prayers, good vibes, and positive thoughts coming our way! Hugs and kisses to you all...