Funeral arrangements

As many of you have heard, Mom passed away yesterday afternoon. She passed away peacefully and pain free, surrounded by several family members and friends.

We are having a visitation/viewing on Thursday, September 19 from 6:00PM-8:00PM at Altemeyer Funeral Home, 1400 Eoff Street, Wheeling, WV 26003 . Her funeral service will held at St. Rita's Catholic Church, 2907 Dunleer Road, Dundalk, MD 21222 on Saturday, September 21. There will be a visitation/viewing at 2:00 PM, with the service following at 3:00 PM. She will be buried at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, 200 East Padonia Road, Timonium, MD 21092.

In lieu of flowers, Mom requested donations be made the to The Cancer Resource Center at Reynolds Memorial Hospital, c/o The Reynolds Memorial Foundation, 800 Wheeling Ave, Glen Dale, WV 26038. Thank you all for your continued love and support.

Love, Sara

Update from Bob

Well, we are back again, updating the blog. We have been trying to stay in touch with everyone over these past few weeks, but phone calls and text updates have become increasingly harder. For those of you hearing this news for the first time, we are sorry to share this over the blog, but please understand. Maureen has been in the ICU for approximately two weeks for an infection. She had been receiving high-dose antibiotics, but she recently decided to discontinue all treatment and instead her doctors are proceeding with comfort care only. Her pain has been well managed and she is now sleeping most of the time. She is lucid for short periods throughout the day and we all have shared good conversations and some laughs as well. That all being said, her situation is terminal. She has fought a good fight, but wants to be pain free, which none of us can blame her for. As stated before, her pain is controlled and is our top priority now. She is at peace with her decision. There are several family members in town and someone is with her all the time. This is what she wanted. Her condition has gone downhill over the past days and I honestly don't expect her to make it through the weekend (but who knows). We all appreciate your continued love, prayers, and support. Texts are easier to handle and respond to than phone calls as there is poor cell reception in the hospital. Please understand if we are unable to respond promptly to your texts/calls as well. We will keep this updated as things progress, but for now please keep Maureen and the rest of our family in your prayers. Love, Bob

Marti is doing pretty well so far since the surgery on thursday. She recieved 2 units of blood yesterday. She still has 2 chest tubes in her L chest cavity--one is now draining only clear (serous) fluid that is no longer bloody. the other one still is draining clear but bloody fluid (serosanguinous) She is able to be up in a chair now. She is still in the ICU and we like her being there because she can be watched very closely. She has been able to eat some regular food and her vital signs are stable. She seems to be in decent spirits. She says definitely notices a difference now that her Left lung is no longer collapsed. This procedure is not 100% successful, but the one she had 4 years ago on the right side has worked great. Marti and I both love to have visitors, but calls are hard to keep up with and are tiring for her--however with text messages we will do our best to keep up.. Please spread the message to other friends and family that we have started up doing the blog again. Sara, John, and Janet were here for the surgery and a couple days afterwards---It was really nice having them here. John, Janet and I went to the seafood buffet Friday nite and they each got $20 free play at the casino because they were new. sara was going to stay longer but Maureen did so well that we had her go back to Logan and Nick early. I will keep this blog updated regularly until she is more stable.. thanks for all the moral support, and feel free to visit bob shalowitz

Day 1 postop

I am with mom now.  She is still in the ICU.  She did well overnight according to her nurse.  They have been giving her pain medication to make sure the pain stays controlled.  Right now she is talking non-stop and is doing well.  It looks like she may stay here one more day, but that is not decided yet for certain.  She has two chest tubes on the left side and has received some blood and everything looks good as of now.  We will update again later.

Surgical update

Maureen had a procedure done on her left chest cavity today because her left lung was collapsed due to fluid in the chest. The procedure is called a VATS and is similar to the one she had four years ago on her right lung (when we started this blog). The surgery was technically difficult, but went extremely well. There were no complications, but she is being kept in the ICU tonight as a precaution. She is able to talk and is in good spirits, but is currently getting a lot of sedation for discomfort. We truly appreciate everyone's support. Sara and John and Janet Marron were here for the procedure. Please do not try to call the hospital or her cell for a few days as she needs to rest. We will do our best to keep this blog updated again until she is completely stable and back at home. She is looking forward to going home and seeing her grandsons Brenndan and Logan soon. We decided to utilize this blog to share the details of what is going on as it is very taxing mentally and emotionally to retell over and over to lots of people. Feel free to call or text, but please understand if it takes awhile to return your message. Additionally, visitors are welcome in the coming weeks and months - both Maureen and I really enjoy having guests visit.

Hi everyone – Sorry for the lack of updates –we know this is way overdue. First, this is Sara with a video from my mom – she recorded it a few weeks ago while I was visiting her in the hospital. I had shown her some other videos on my iPhone and she asked if she could make one too! So, here’s her message for everyone:





Second, here’s an update from my dad:

Sorry this is so overdue, but it's been a tough 2 months. In retrospect, Maureen was very very sick over Thanksgiving. She was so sick that she now barely remembers anything from the entire 3 weeks. She remembers visiting with our grandson Brenndan, remembers a visit from our friend Emily, and the table set up for Thanksgiving. And that’s about it. When we got her back to West Virginia, she was septic and way over-narcotized. Dr Hess placed her on massive antibiotics for over a month and she received IV nutrition for 2 months. She has now improved greatly and was able to come home from the hospital a little over a week ago. I have hired companions/aides for about 16 hours a day to stay with her while I am at work. Luckily, we have found some really nice people who are very helpful. Maureen can now carefully do a lap around our house. She still needs help getting up and has to be monitored very closely. She is very happy to be home and is talking more in her normal voice instead of the really scary quiet monotone she had in Virginia. Her comprehension and memory have also greatly improved.

In other good news, her tumor marker has dropped way down from 270, and now was at 99 this past week. Also, this fall, it looked as though her right femur had cancer growing inside the bone. After several consultations, this is been found to NOT be cancer, but is instead a marrow change with red marrow changing to fat. I was very happy to find this out.

We recently decided to sign up for hospice ---DON'T PANIC--- Most people have the wrong idea about it--Hospice is way different than it used to be.---The Hospice agency we found here is terrific, with really caring people. They have helped us with supplies to help Maureen be able to adapt to being home. Our goal is to keep her home and out of the hospital as much as possible and they will be able to help us do that. They send aides for a hour several times a week and a nurse 1-2 times a week. Also, a nurse is available 24/7 for emergencies. There is a very swanky 12 room unit called Liza's place that Marti can stay at for 2-3 days if I need to go out of town. The rooms are like a very nice hotel with suites, large flat screen TV's, etc. Temporary setbacks can also be treated there instead of going back to the hospital. They offer a lot of emotional support for both Maureen and me. Dr Hess is still her doctor, but Dr.Murray, the Hospice doctor, will also see her at home and be available to help with her care. If some new treatment surfaces that would have a good chance of helping her without significant side effects, she can go off of hospice at any time and come back later.

These last few months have been stressful on me, and I have been sick for a couple of weeks, but I am doing a little better now. The good news is that I have lost 39 pounds, and I think you will see the difference when you see me.


Marti has been mostly able to stay asleep from 9-10PM to 8 AM. THEREFORE PLEASE DO NOT CALL DURING THAT TIME. Obviously Marti loves visits from friends and relatives. We had a special treat last week with a visit from Riley – Kathleen brought him to visit from Maryland. Also, our good friends Dick and Charlene Griffin came to see Marti in the hospital before she got out – they brought their dog into Marti’s room to visit with her! Your dogs are welcome to visit with you anytime! We have a fenced in back yard and love the company.

Love to everybody--I will promise to try to do this a lot more often. Thanks again for all of your support.
Bob S.

Update from Bob

Noreen was able to bring Maureen home by plane, after we decided that a 9 hour ambulance ride would be very traumatic. Maureen was pretty worn out as expected, and was taken right to the hospital, and she had a 102 fever the next day and was started on very powerful antibiotics, which she is still on. Dr Hess plans to keep them going a long time in case there is a hidden area of infection that has recurred. Things have been going very slowly. She has not been able to support any weight at all, but the head of PT told me today that she did walk 50 feet with a walker today, which is actually very good news. Dr. Maysonet, anesthesiologist and pain specialist, is injecting 3 areas under fluoroscopy today-right shoulder, left hip, and cervical spine---if this is successful, it may decrease the amount of pain meds she needs. Also, her MRI of the brain with contrast was negative for any spread of cancer to the brain. Her very high tumor marker of 271 has come down to 217 and then 171, still high but going in the right direction, possibly due to Faslodex, a monthly anti estrogen injection which does not cause serious side effects. She is too weak for any other chemo at this time.
She is in Reynolds Memorial Hospital, Glen Dale, WV 26038, Room 524

Thanks alot to John M, who did Ti Chi exercises with her that seemed to help.Janet was also a huge help and her expertise in wound prevention was very helpful.I really enjoyed the opportunity to sit and talk with her more than I have in a long time. Anna Mae was fantastic as usual--what an amazing person, high energy and always looks at the bright side. All of Maureen's sisters and brothers have put their own lives on hold many times to help her---And in case I havn't said it enough, I am deeply appreciative and I know many, many families who would not do the same. Noreen came for 2 weeks and we are really grateful for that. Kathleen is here now and doing her best to keep me in line and help Maureen as much as possible.
I will try to update sooner next time
Bob S.