Monday 11 July 2011

Celebrating Margie

If you are not able to attend our mother's Memorial Service but still want to celebrate Margie's life, we will be having a wake at the Bellaire Public Library on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 from 5-8PM.

Mom was never one to want people crying over her when she passed so that is the atmosphere we are trying to create. We encourage you to share your favorite memories of our mother, chat with us, and have a nice time. No black and no tears allowed. This is to celebrate the wonderful life my mother had!

Sunday 10 July 2011

Altmeyer Funeral Homes: Obituaries - Good

Margie's obituary with memorial service information. A wake is also being planned but details are still being worked out.

Friday 8 July 2011

Margie is Now at Peace

Earlier this week the doctors told us that we needed to make some decisions regarding next steps in her care. She had been on a ventilator for over a week and we needed to decide if we wanted the doctors to add a trach or to review her living will. Her living will stated that no heroic measures and artificial sustainment of life. The doctors were very clear that the ventilator was sustaining her life and she would not be able to live without it.

Tonight we gathered the family to say our last goodbyes after we took away support. We could definitely tell that she was ready to go and she went peacefully and quickly around 7:40.

Arrangements are still being made and updates will be listed here and on facebook.

Thursday 7 July 2011

Laugh When You Feel Like Crying

I was challenged to provide a spiritual thought the other night for a meeting I had to attend at church. I chose the following from the book Small and Simple Things by Marjorie Pay Hinckley:

Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, "We are here in mortality, and the only way to go is through; there isn't any any around!" (Ensign, May 1998, 9). I would add, the only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, "Solitude," st. 1

Hinckley, M.P. (2003). Small and simple things (p. 126). Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book

I am trying to remember this as I face the reality that my mother's days on earth are few and only God in Heaven knows how long she has here with us. Trying to remember the happy times and the realization that life on earth is but a moment in the scope of eternity. Love you mom!

Monday 4 July 2011

Keep on Praying

Hello again,

Margie is improving slightly according to her nurses, but not that we can really see. She is still on a ventilator and is asleep most of the time. She is very swollen because she isn't producing enough urine and her body is retaining the water. Margie is still in ICU. Thanks for all of your prayers and keep them going to heaven for her.

Thursday 30 June 2011

Pray, Pray, Pray

Hi Everyone. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. Margie is having a rough go of it. Her lung collasped and she has pneumonia. They had to put her on a ventilator and back into ICU. Please keep her in your prayers.

Monday 20 June 2011

No Surgery

Margie has received additional units of blood and plasma. They are not going to do surgery because she has stablelized. The surgery has a long recovery time and as long as she isn't in danger of loosing more blood they would prefer not to do it. Please keep her in your prayers. She is still on hold of any cancer treatments until she heals from the surgery.
She has access to fb if you want to say "Hi!"

Thanks again for all of your prayers.

Saturday 18 June 2011

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.

Margie was doing well and looking forward to being back in the valley next week. However, she hit a snag. Her blood pressure dropped and they found a hematoma (sp?) at her surgery site. They did a CT scan and didn't find bleeding in or around the kidney. They had to give her two units of blood and an agent to help the bleeding stop. As of this afternoon, her blood pressure stablized and she was feeling somewhat better. They hope that they do not have to do surgery to stop the bleeding.
Once again we ask for your continued prayers. God Bless you Margie - Love you!

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Another set back

Looking Forward

Hi Friends!

Margie is doing somewhat better. Her hemoglobin in down, the salt in her blood is low, but her sugar is good. They are hoping to get her chest tube out today. Once that is out and her blood reports are stable, she will be heading back to the valley.

Margie is in good spirits, but is still very tired. I would suggest that the best way to communicate to her is on facebook. She is able to view it and read it, but isn't always up to commenting on it. She is enjoying her cards.

I will try to keep you updated daily. Thanks a million times for the prayers!

Monday 13 June 2011

Follow Up

Margie is still in Ruby Memorial. She is have some post operative problems, her sugar is low and she has a partially collasped lung. Please continue your prayers for her, Ralph and the girls.

Sunday 12 June 2011

Address

Margie's address:

Marjorie Schockey
c/o Ruby Memorial Hospital
1 Medical Center Drive
Morgantown, WV 26506

Currently Margie's room number is 969, but that could change.

Rough Day :(

Margie had a very uncomfortable day and her sugar was low. She isn't very hungry and that messes up her sugar. Keep praying for her. She is in room 969 at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. I'll post the address tomorrow if anyone wants to drop her a card.

Saturday 11 June 2011

Out of ICU!

Margie has moved from the ICU to a stepdown unit. I will let you know her address tomorrow after I see her. Her room number 973 at Ruby Memorial Hospital, I just don't know the street address.

She is doing well from the surgery, but now has a small tear in her trachea (sp?). They are treating it with medicine, but may need to do surgery to correct it. This is causing her problems with her breathing.

Please continue to pray for her recovery and well being.

Friday 10 June 2011


Sitting!

Hi again! Margie was measured for a brace on Tuesday afternoon and was wearing it on Wednesday morning. The brace is to support her spine while she heals and gains strength. She was sitting up in bed yesterday (Wednesday) and today they said that she was sitting up in a chair.

Physical therapists were in to see her yesterday and today. They are working on building her strength in her arms and legs.

Still no date on when she will be heading back home. We appreciate all of your prayers and thoughts. Please keep them coming.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Surgery

Hello Everyone,

First of all thanks for all of your prayers, thoughts and encouragements. We all appreciate your kindnesses, especially Margie.

Margie had the second part of her surgery today. They put a synthetic cage in the space where they removed the spinal bone and tumor. She will now be able to sit up. Margie will be fitted for a brace before she will attempt walking. We are unsure as to how long it will be before she gets the brace.

We are celebrating the fact that she can now move her legs and wiggle her toes.
Since we saw her this evening, her pain has decreased from an 8 to a two. So, keep praying!

God bless you all!

Monday 6 June 2011

frustration

Margie's surgery was postponed until Tuesday. It is frustrating to have this put off when you have prepared for it. Margie handled it well. So, family and friends, keep on praying and sending out positive vibes. Love you all and appreciate all of the prayers and good wishes. We will keep you updated!

Saturday 4 June 2011

Today was a good day

Hello everyone! It's Katie :) Karen arrived today from Virginia, and mom was very happy to see her. She has been improving everyday. She got a new bed to improve her circulation, and her throat has gotten a lot better since they took her breathing tube out. She has been on a liquid diet for the past two days, and they even let her have some orange sherbet. She has one more day to rest before they do the second part of her surgery on Monday. I am hoping to write down all of the posts from facebook to read to her since I don't have a printer down here, so she will know how much you are all praying for her and thinking about her. Her spirits are high and she wants everyone to know that she is not scared.

Friday 3 June 2011

Progress!

Copied from mom's facebook account that was posted by either Jane or Katie...

Mom just wiggled her tootsies!!! Also, all of the posts and kind words are much appreciated. Mom hasnt been on fb since tuesday and is in icu for recovery so she cant read your posts yet, but she knows that you are all thinking of her and sending prayers her way :)

Background

My mother has been having back pain for a few months now. She had thought it was the result of falling at work and was going to physical therapy to reduce the pain. About a month ago the pain became so bad she took some time off work to rest. In that time she had a CT scan (without contrast) done which revealed there was a break in a part of her spine and was told she needed to rest so that it could heal properly. The CT scan also revealed what the doctors thought was a cyst on her kidney. She was given painkillers and sent home to rest.

Fast forward to May 20th. The pain had become so severe that my mother went to the emergency room so she could hopefully get some relief. At this time another CT scan was performed, this time with contrast. This is when it was revealed that the "cyst" was actually a tumor on her kidney and there was another tumor on her spine. She was given more pain killers and sent home again but this time with a plan to follow up with specialists.

During this time, mom starts to lose feeling in her legs and needs assistance to walk. Simple tasks that many of us take for granted are a chore for her. Thankfully family and friends were there to sit with her and keep her company and encouraged her to go back to the hospital on May 25th. At this point she could not even walk and needed an ambulance to take her to Wheeling Medical Park where she was until she was transferred to WVU's Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown.

Margie has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Kidney Cancer, this means that the cancer has spread, in mom's case, her spine and 2 other locations in her bones (which are of minor importance compared to the kidney and spine). Thursday she had the first of at least 2 surgeries. This surgery removed the tumor on her spine along with 2 pieces of spine. The surgeons placed artificial supports where the pieces of spine used to be. Mom is recovering from loss of blood and the surgery will continue on Monday. Her breathing tube has been removed but she remains in ICU for the time being. My sisters Jane and Katie are with her now and I will be joining them tomorrow. My aunts and uncle and cousins and dad and her friends all continue to be a wonderful support and it makes me so happy to know there are so many people that love and support my mother! Thank you all for that!

Mom's spirits are high. I feel like we should be encouraging her, but she is the one helping us, her children, through this. My mom is my hero!