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.