Services for Susan, Memories Book

Services for Susan will be held on Wednesday, December 10th at 11:00 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Tempe South Stake Center located at 1111 E. Knox Rd, Tempe, AZ. There will be a viewing on Tuesday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the same location, and a second viewing on Wednesday at 9:30 AM. Please spread the word.

In lieu of flowers, Susan asked that donations be directed to a foundation we are establishing in her name that will assist cancer patients who cannot afford the kind of treatment she was blessed to receive. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo branch to account number 2017305018.

Finally, a good friend has offered to collect memories, stories, and photos to create a memories book for Susan's family. If you would like to contribute, please send your memories and photos to tributetosusan@gmail.com and invite other friends to do the same.

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

Susan passed away tonight at 7:41 PM in her home in Mesa, AZ. Justin was at her side, and they were surrounded by their parents and siblings. Susan was resting peacefully when she left this world, despite suffering tremendous pain and discomfort during the past few days. It was a privilege to see the love that Justin and Susan showed each other even in the midst of such difficult circumstances.

We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and kind words on behalf of Susan, Justin, and our families. We feel blessed to know that our friends stand by us in this time of sorrow.

And yet, we rejoice in the precious years that we were able to spend with Susan. We know that her influence for good will live on in the lives of her many friends and family members. We give thanks for the knowledge that we will one day be together again, and that she is now able to rest from her pain and the cares of this world.

God be with you 'til we meet again. We love you, Suz.

Remarks From Susan

Susan wanted to update the blog and she asked that I (Justin) be her scribe.

There is so much that I want to say that I have been unable to express. I appreciate Justin and Zach for updating the blog for me.

I have learned that a lot of things in life just don't go the way we plan. This is by no fault of our own.

Quickly I'd like to express my gratitude to all my friends and family for all your love and support, and get out all my love for you.

To all my nieces and nephews, both here and to come, please know that it is important to build a Christ centered life.

To my cousins, you've been some of my greatest support, and I love you.

To all my friends over the years, you've kept me on the right path by doing what's right. And we sure have shared some great memories.

To my aunts, uncles, and grandparents, thank you for your examples and unconditional love.

And to my awesome husband Justin, thank you for loving me with all your heart and for caring for me with selfless kindness. I love you forever.

I know that God lives and that He loves us. I know that Jesus Christ died for our sins so that we might return to our Heavenly Father as we follow Him. It is through service to our fellow men that we show our love for our Savior.

U of A Tribute to Susan

In thinking of ways to honor Susan and the wonderful life she lived, an idea was brought up to pay tribute to her at the upcoming ASU vs. U of A football game this Saturday in Tucson. Susan, as many of you know, competed for the University of Arizona as a member of both the cross country and track and field teams. She was also very involved in the student-athlete advisory board and also volunteered a significant amount of time working in the C.A.T.S. Community Service program. In these roles she had the opportunity to get to know and work with many Wildcat athletes, staff, trainers, and members of the athletic department administration. The idea of honoring Susan at the game was floated by a few people at the University (they know who they are, and to them we will be eternally grateful), and they took the idea and ran with it. They went above and beyond what any of us could ever expect and developed a picture tribute to Susan that will be shown on the big screen at the stadium between the 3rd and 4th quarters (you can see the picture below). The timeline on which this happened was incredibly short, and they dropped everything to get it done in time. Their willingness to do this is just another example of the number of lives that Susan managed to touch during her abbreviated stay on this earth. So if you happen to be at the game on Saturday, keep your eyes on the board and get your cameras ready! And for all of us current and former Wildcats out there, BEAR DOWN!!!

At Home

I spoke with Justin this morning, and he asked me to post an update.

Bruce and Justin met with Susan's oncologist yesterday morning. His opinion was that her body would not be able to endure further chemotherapy, it would do more harm than good. Together they decided that the best course of action would be to take her home where she can rest more comfortably.

Susan has been sleeping most of the time lately, but Bruce mentioned that she overheard this conversation and asked "Does this mean I'm done?" They indicated to her that her treatment was complete, and she closed her eyes and smiled. She understands her situation and is at peace.

She arrived home yesterday afternoon and is receiving hospice care. Her caregivers are adjusting her pain medication to help her have more awake time, which is important to her. Justin, Bruce, and Janet are caring for her together with her nurses.

We appreciate the many prayers and kind words that have been offered on behalf of Susan and our family. We will continue to keep our friends and family members updated through the blog.

Zach

Update

The day after arriving in the hospital after receiving the IV nutrition, she seemed to improve pretty fast, feeling better and just all around more normal. She had the catheter installed in her abdomen to drain the fluid. We haven't been able to remove much fluid yet, though. Since that procedure she has not really fully woken up and is not mentally all there. That was done Wednesday. We have also learned that because of the long break from chemo the cancer has gotten worse and has spread more in the lungs and to the adrenal glands. It's hard to say for sure, but her decrease in cognitive function is probably related to the build up of all the pain meds she's on, her electrolyte imbalance, her sick liver, adrenal gland and kidneys. She's also much weaker despite the IV nutrients.
We are having a family fast on Sunday and we invite all of you to join us.

I forgot to mention that her Oncologist decided he didn't think it was a good idea to delay any longer the chemo treatments, but also didn't want to give the full dose yet. So last night she started with only the drug Erbitux, which is an antibody that is supposed to target cancer cells and slow their growth. Other then extreme fatigue, she ha had no other side effects yet.

Back in the Hospital

I guess I have to start doing updates again; Susan's back in the hospital. We had a disappointing weekend. After having the fluid drained on Friday, we had big hopes that having done that she would have relief and be able to eat and catch up on the needed nutrients and calories she was missing because she couldn't eat due to the distention. Turns out that the fluid just came right back in less then a day causing discomfort all over again. Real frustrating for Susan. The procedure is painful and she was hoping to get relief and a new start but didn't get any. She wasn't able to eat much all weekend despite our best coaching efforts. By Sunday she was noticeably weaker, so we decided the best thing would be to get her back on TPN (IV nutrients) on Monday. It was a good thing we did. After doing more blood work, we also found out that her electrolyte balance was off (sodium low, potassium high), which is very dangerous if not dealt with carefully, and her white blood cell count was quite high (sign of infection), and she was dehydrated, and malnourished. This time we're not at the Mayo we are at Banner Dessert where her Oncologist is. The Doctors here have been really good at looking at the whole picture and they helped us understand better what is happening. A lot of things that are going on with Susan are having an additive result and negatively effecting her. We learned that the reason the fluids built up so fast was that she was already malnourished and lacking calories and protein along with a sick liver. Protein in the blood helps the water stay in the veins. Since there was no protein, the fluid built up in the abdomen. Then, because the fluid built up again she wasn't able to eat, causing more malnutrition, dehydration and weakness. To help stop the fluid from building up in her abdomen she has been on two diuretic drugs for the last 3 or more weeks. Sometimes diuretics may cause the kidneys to excrete more sodium than water, resulting in low sodium. This in one reason she felt so week and confused. One of the diuretic drugs she was on also had the effect of reducing the amount of potassium excreted by the kidneys, resulting in high potassium, a dangerous situation. The fact that we were feeding a diet high in potassium probably didn't help either. I'm sure this is a very simplified explanation of a complex problem, but it's beginning to make more sense why progress is so slow. After being on the TPN for only 24 hours you can tell a big difference in her. She's actually making some jokes and her little attitude is starting to show through. We heard that if she's here over Thanksgiving they can give here liquid turkey and mashed potatoes in her IV. She's real excited.