Hubby's family needs lounge vibes

[susanr516]

His sister, June, lives in Tampa FL. Early Tues. morning, she collapsed at home. Her roommate took her to the hospital, where doctors realized she had serious neurological problems. A quick MRI showed a mass in the right front part of her brain. They did emergency surgery and found a second mass. They could not remove all of the first mass and couldn't even attempt to remove the second because June's brain couldn't take that much trauma at once. They did more tests on Wed. and reduced her level of sedation to see what kind of brain function she had. She was non-responsive except for a weak cough. Her pupils remain fixed and dilated, and she is on a respirator and feeding tube. The family should receive a biopsy report today, which the doctor thinks will be malignant. Dr. told us yesterday that removing all the tumors would require taking almost half of June's brain, leaving her in a persistent vegetative state. June is divorced and has no children, leaving my in-laws (FIL is 89, MIL is 87) as next-of-kin. Because of the ice storm, there is no way for them to get from Corpus Christi to Tampa until tomorrow at the very earliest. I fear my in-laws may have to make the call to remove June from life support without getting a chance to see her. June is stubbornly independent and has often locked horns with her parents, and I know they want to see her one last time. Please send some healing vibes for my husband's family, especially his parents. Thank God neither of them has any type of dementia, but they both are physically fragile and in assisted living. And safe passage for June, may she find the peace and healing she has deserved for such a long time on the other side.

[Call Me Wesley]

1. Safe passage to your sister-in-law.

May she be free from suffering. Peace and comfort to yours and her family.

[redwitch]

2. Absolutely.

How very sad! So sorry for everyone. :hug:

[siligut]

3. Godspeed June

And condolences to the family, let peace be with them and allow them to make the decision that is best for all concerned. I have to add, I wonder what symptoms June had before the collapse.

[susanr516]

4. In hindsight

She had been having some pretty extreme mood swings. Also some slurred speech, and her roommate thought she was suffering from alcohol poisoning when she took June to the hospital. June is an alcoholic and had started drinking again, so we assumed this was due to her drinking. June lost her job when the company she worked for went bankrupt about 6 months ago. We visited my in-laws on Sunday, and FIL said June had called him a couple of weeks before, crying about lack of money. My inlaws are financially secure and my FIL mailed her a check the next day; he called to tell her it was in the mail, but she wouldn't answer the phone. About four days later, he called and someone else answered the phone. He said it sounded like there was a party going on and June refused to come to the phone. My FIL was so concerned that he called his friend, who is the sheriff here in Nueces County to see how to get Tampa law enforcement to check on June. It took about 3 days, but Tampa police did go to June's residence and talked with her. She told them she had no recollection of the conversation and hadn't gotten the check. June still did not call her parents--the June I know would have immediately called her dad and cussed him out for checking up on her. We all assumed that it was due to alcohol abuse. Now, it's just another thing for us all to feel guilty about.

[siligut]

5. Don't feel guilty

Alcoholism complicates everything. You can't have any idea how things would be if June's condition had been discovered sooner, you just can't. You didn't describe the mass in her brain, but size isn't always a factor in prognosis when it comes to brain cancer. I wonder where that check went. It is possible, of course, that she just doesn't remember it. Like you said in your OP, hopefully now, she will find peace.

[Suich]

6. That's so sad.

Best wishes for all.

:hug:

[foxfeet]

7. I wish peace to her and to all who love her.

[one_voice]

8. Safe passage to June...

Healing and peace vibes to you, your husband, and his parents. :hug:

[susanr516]

9. Today's update

June's condition remains unchanged. Fortunately, the planes are flying again, so my MIL and BIL are going to fly to Tampa this afternoon. The biopsy came back as a rare form of cancer in the brain and the Dr. now thinks there may be cancer someplace else. At least it sounds like some of the family can get there before she passes. If there is more cancer found, it may be more humane to discontinue life support and not prolong her suffering.

[siligut]

10. Thank you for the update

I agree, continuing life support sometimes isn't continuing life, it is just prolonging death. Strength and peace to your family to make the best decision.

[Tikki]

11. I am so sorry...no parent ever wants to go through this..

and this is so sad for the whole family..

:hugs:

Tikki