Brief Update

Hi,

I just wanted to give everyone a brief update. Nysh is recovering a little each day. It is so great to see her at home, without all the hook-ups and hospital gown. She has an appt. with her oncologist on Wednesday. Paul, Ben and I will go with her for questions, information, support, etc. On Thursday she will go back up to Denver to meet with her urologist and have the drain and catheter removed, she's ready for that appt.

The famous Lu Fly (Nysh's Mom) will arrive on Monday with the also famous, Lil' Nysh!

Again, thanks for all of the love and support!

Happy New Year!
Maggie

Love, Brinkley

Thank you Brelands!

Friday

Hi,

Nysh is on her way home!!!!!!!!

She is sounding more like herself and might be arriving at her house as I type. She has an appt. scheduled with her oncologist down here in the Springs for next week. They plan on starting the chemo. in two weeks.

That's all the update I have for now.

Thanks and love,
Maggie

Thursday

Hi,

She is off of the TPN (IV nutrition) and IV pain meds. So, possibly coming home tomorrow or Saturday. She will wait until the morning to decide if she is ready for the car ride home. Ugh.

I'll let ya'll know when I know.

Love,
M.

Wednesday

Hello,

Paul and I drove up to Denver today. Paul relieved Ben who had been with Mom for the previous two nights. Healing is still a very slow process but she was feeling like she had made progress today. She is almost off of the IV pain meds, making the switch to oral meds. She also had her first bite of solid food today, after two or three days on just liquids and yogurt, which I guess is sort of a solid. They are weaning her off of the IV nutrition in hopes that her appetite will kick back in. Anyway, her pain is getting better, she can walk with more confidence and sit up much longer.

The urologist stopped by today. He is concerned that the stint in her ureter might not be working 100%. So, he wants to leave the catheter and the abdominal drain in for another week. She can come home with those two things in, as soon as she's off of the IV meds and nutrition. It's looking like Saturday or Sunday.

She asked me to please say THANK YOU for all of the love and support. I sat with her today while she opened 50+ cards, all accompanied with laughter and/or tears. Thank you!!! She is feeling so embraced and is so appreciative.

Now, if we can just get her home!

Love,
Maggie

Christmas Eve

Hi,

Well, not too much to report today. Her recovery is going slow, more walking up and down the hall. Ben took her some uber hearty veggie broth that we made and she's had two cups of that, we're very excited. Much better than the popsicle the hospital fed her. It's looking like at least Thursday or Friday before she'll be able to come home. Chad and I will take Vivian up to see her tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday.

Love,
Maggie

Monday

Flowers from Lil'

Sunday

Hi,

I don't have a lot to post tonight. They started her on clear liquids today. She's been trying to walk a lot and even got another shower in. It's not looking like she'll be home for Christmas, but we can easily postpone the family get together for when BGN gets back!

Love,
Maggie

Saturday p.m.

Good news anyone? The procedure went perfectly! The stint took care of the leak/nick and she feels soooooooooo much better. They drained 1000cc of fluid from her abdominal cavity and she is feeling good and her spirits are back up!!! Yea!

Love ya'll,
M.

Saturday a.m.

They could not get her procedure scheduled until 3:30 this afternoon, ugh! I'll post when I know the results.

Thanks!

Friday p.m.

Hi,

Nysh's CT scan showed a nick in her right ureter, a small tube that runs from the kidney to the bladder. So, this explains the fluid in her belly, and the additional misery she's been in. She will have a procedure in the morning called a cystoscopy. A urologist will place a stint in the ureter to seal the nick by way of her urethra. If, god forbid, this doesn't work, they'll have to open her up again.

The procedure is scheduled for morning and should only take 20-30 minutes.

More good energy, prayers, love, thoughts, dances, etc. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Maggie

Friday

Well, Nysh is having a really bad day. She is feeling horrible, the pain is quite bad and she now has a low fever. They're sending her down for another CT scan to check her colon again. This time she will drink some kind of goo (dye) so that they get a clearer picture. Nice. I wasn't able to get any more info. Ben is there with her and Paul will be there soon. Her major frustration, understandably, is that she is in as bad of shape as day 1 and it's day 7.

I'll try to round up some more info. as the evening goes on and let you all know what's happening.

M.

Message from Logan

Thank you Tom & Sandy!

Big Giant Nysh, the nickname

For those of you unsure about the title "Big Giant Nysh" here is the story. Nyshie is a family name that comes from Mom's paternal grandmother. Nysh is the second. Nyshie's niece, my cousin, who lives in NY is the third. When she arrived thirty some years ago she quickly became Lil' Nysh and Mom became Big Nysh. Well that morphed into Big Giant, BG or BGN. Lil' Nysh has shortened and she is now known just as Lil', even among New Yorkers.

Well, Lil' has come up with a fabulous idea. There is a link on the right, "T-shirts." You can order a t-shirt with the famous "I (heart) NY" logo but personalize it to "I (heart) BG" or Nysh, etc. When your t-shirt arrives snap a photo of you in it and mail to Mom. I'll put together a huge photo board for her with all displaying their tees.

If anyone has any questions feel free to email. Thanks for the idea Lil'.

Love,
Maggie

Thursday a.m.

Hi,

Nysh got up and had a shower this morning and even put on some mascara! She is feeling extremely weak and nauseous. They're going to give her another pint of blood and start the TPN, IV nutrition.

The goal for the next couple hours is to walk, a lot.

I'll do another update this evening.
Love,
M.

Wednesday

Hi,

She's been pretty miserable today. A lot of pain. They did an x-ray this morning to determine if there was a blockage in her colon or not. Turns out air bubbles, a huge part of her misery. If her bowels don't fully awaken by morning they'll put her on IV nutrition, so far she's only had potassium chloride. The surgeon answered a lot of questions this morning, there will be many more to come. The ovarian cancer is Serous carcinoma and is quick to occur and spread, as we know. It does respond to chemotherapy.

The pathology determined that the tumor of the appendix from last year was a separate process and is not related to what is happening now. All of the tumors taken out, including the ones on her colon, are the ovarian crud. The origination site is her ovaries and they found nothing in her uterus.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. That's all I can do tonight. More later...

Love,
Maggie

Address

In case anyone doesn't have this;

315 Northfield Road
Colorado Springs, CO 80919

Thanks!!!

Request

Hi all,

Nysh will be home sometime this weekend. I was wondering if YA'LL could could get some mail moving her way. Funny, encouraging, etc. A giant pile of laughter and love to get the rally started. Thanks!

I don't really know what else to do, how to proceed as far as support goes. Please email or post some ideas, manshutz@gmail.com.

Love,
Maggie

Initial Diagnosis

Well, it's stage 3 ovarian cancer. They're trying to determine how it's connected, if at all, to the tumor of the appendix that she had last year. There may be no connection but they are continuing to piece that together. She will start chemo. in 3-4 weeks here in Colorado Springs with her oncologist here. The chemo. will be given intra-abdominally through a catheter that they inserted in her abdomen during surgery.

She will be in the hospital at least until Friday.

Spirits are low as we process this. We'll just have to continue to rally around Nysh!

Love ya'll,
M.

Monday p.m.

Nysh just asked Ben if he liked my cat. I don't have a cat. So, the pain meds are working. She's much more comfortable than this morning and she's been up walking a few times today. Still no food, just ice chips.

Got to run before Vivian ingests an ink cartridge.

Love,
M.

Monday a.m.

Well, this morning was the worst pain so far. They took out something. Nysh is a little hard to understand on the phone but it sounds like they took away one of the epidural medicines. So, the pain is kicking. She's a little flat, but hanging in.

Doc said no pathology reports today, tomorrow or Wednesday now. Ugh.

That's all I got, I'll check in later.

M.

Sunday

Hi everyone,

Well, she looks better today. Her color is better, puffiness is down and she is walking a little. Still no food, nothing but ice chips until her bowels awaken (they did remove 4+ inches of her colon). She was more like herself this morning and then faded as the day went on, pain and exhaustion caught up with her. The staff is still staying on top of the pain but obviously some is expected. She's talking about the holidays, trying to figure out the remainder of her shopping. :)

I can't think of much more right now. The Vivian needs some Mama love.

I'm not going to Denver tomorrow but Paul will be with her in the a.m. and Ben in the p.m. I'll post updates from them. It is possible that something will be back from pathology tomorrow, otherwise Tuesday.

Thanks and love,
Maggie

Saturday

Hi all,

Nysh is doing pretty well, considering. She was sitting up in a chair when Chad and I got there. The staff is doing an amazing job of managing her pain and checking in quite frequently with her and Paul. She is definitely in and out due to the pain meds. The pathology reports are expected back Monday or Tuesday. The good news is that the surgeon did not see any of the mucous that is common with the PMP tumors. Unfortunately, that means a different kind of tumor. Possibly the crud (medical term) from last year morphed into something different or it's just a different thing all together, pending pathology. Her incision is not to be seen by the weak or faint. Paul and I are thinking it will be at least Wednesday before going home discussions begin.

She was frustrated that there wasn't any football on to watch during the day and she was able to make a few jokes here and there.

I'm heading up tomorrow. I'll let you all know how the day goes.
Love,
Maggie

Friday Night

Paul called around 4:30pm and they were still messing with her in the recovery room. Her blood pressure finally stabilized and she had a blood transfusion.

I just spoke with Paul, Ben and MOM, she's in a room now!!! She sounded pretty good, a little goofy, more than usual. She is having absoluely no pain and was getting ready to rest. Paul and Ben headed out for the night and will be back up in the morning. Chad and I will head up around 9am and I think Beth and Danny will stop by sometime tomorrow too. I'll update as soon as we get back from Denver tomorrow afternoon/evening.

Thanks for the love!
Maggie

Out of Surgery!

Paul and Ben just called and she is out of surgery. The doc said that everything went well. He got all of the tumors out, full hysterectomy and had to remove some more of her colon because of the tumors. He is hopeful about her prognosis. Pending the pathology report, he is thinking that this type of tumor would respond well to chemotherapy and the chemo. could possibly zap it into remission. Nysh is in recovery. She had an epidural block, so hopefully no pain today. Doc thinks she will be in the hospital for 3-5 days. I will email when there is more.

Love ya'll,
Maggie

Update

The nurse came out of surgery and spoke with Paul a little while ago. She said everything was going fine but it was going to take them longer than originally anticipated. That's all we know for now. Paul sounds fairly good, considering. He's escaping into a book. I probably won't know anymore for an hour or two.

Thanks,
Maggie

Friday Morning

Nysh was in good spirits last night. She and Paul headed up to Denver and stayed with Debbie Hodge last night, due to impending snow that still hasn't arrived. She was due at the hospital this morning at 8:00 and surgery is scheduled to start at 10:00. The initial thought is that surgery will last two to three hours and then she will be in recovery. I'll update as I know. Thanks for the love and support!

Maggie

Ben, Nysh & Vivian

Mom stopped by last night to see her boy and her grandbaby.
Love you Mom!

I took a walk down our snow-covered road early yesterday morning. Pikes Peak was pink and beautiful with just a dusting of snow. Given what is happening and with the future being somewhat unknown, I decided to be purely selfish for a minute and think about what I would like to have or where I would like to go after I’ve recovered from surgery. A new car perhaps, a trip to Europe, a special piece of jewelry? I thought of all of the things that I do have, the experiences in my life, my family, my friends. A quiet, contentment settled over me. I could not think of a single thing that I wanted…nothing. I have the best life ever and I plan to hold onto it as tightly as I can. Know that each of you have touched my life and my heart in a special way and for that I am forever grateful.

Your comments on my blogspot are not going unnoticed. I read and re-read them everyday and they warm my heart and give me the courage to face this. Paul will continue to read them to me in the hospital. Please look for an update after my surgery tomorrow. Fortunately, we have just too much family and too many friends to call everyone. Love you all.

Nyshie

I am writing to update everyone on what we know thus far. I saw Dr. Dan Denato in Denver today, who is an OB/GYN oncologist. We felt very encouraged by the visit and felt very comfortable with him and his experience. He had reviewed my records and diagnostic studies. The findings are that I have numerous tumors in my abdomen and at this point, it is uncertain as to exactly what type of tumors they are. At this point it's looking like the tumors are PMP (please see links on the right), but we won't know for sure until we have the pathology findings. Additionally, I have conflicting findings from several diagnostic studies related to my uterus. The plan is that he will do abdominal surgery this Friday, December 14th in Denver at Rose Hospital to remove as many of the tumors and surrounding tissue as possible, as well as a complete hysterectomy. Once the pathology results are back, we will decide what treatment approach is necessary. It may involve chemotherapy; it may be following up with CT scans and a repeat abdominal surgery down the road. The big picture is that this is a much more favorable prognosis than we originally thought we had. We will provide updated information as it becomes available. Maggie will post an update as soon as I’m out of surgery on Friday. We appreciate all of the support, love and prayers more than we can say.

I do have a small request during the next few weeks. If you must do something I would love a card, but instead of flowers, please make a donation to one of my many favorite charities related to the environment or helping children.

Nyshie

Grandma Nysh & Vivian