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Not happy at all with the service we have received at Del Webb. I implore anyone who is facing cancer to seek out a top notch hospital known for its cancer services.

Got the x ray finally at 4pm. They new since 8pm the night before she would need this xray… whhy the wait? Then had to wait some more. Moms oncologist down here didn’t even come check on mom herself. She sent the new guy in her practice. He was useless. Around 8pm the nurses were starting to worry about moms intake of oxygen, so they called the hospitalist. H was abrupt and said, she is near the end. Said he would order a CT scan. I asked what wouod happen when we found out the results, he said he was going home for the day, so he would see them tomorrow.

So much more to add about our horrible Del Webb experience. i wish I would have stayed the night, but woke up at 8:30am to find that mom was being moved to ICU, dad called stressed, so Christine and I rushed over there. Mom was not looking good. And she also kept saying she wanted to go home to Seattle.

Then dad realized his wallet was gone. Stolen either while he was asleep or sometime during the confusion of moving to ICU. Nice hospital.

We waited all day in the ICU for hospice to get things ready, and we finally got mom home to th Arizona house by 11pm or so.

Some of moms closest friends flew down immediately to be by her side during what maybe her final moments.

Thanks to all our friends for the kind kind text messages and prayers.

At this point it is in Gods hands. Mom cannot really talk or walk anymore but she does shake her head no when we ask her if she is in pain.

It is truly in Gods hands now, please pray for peace and Gods will.

Again if you wish to contact mom, she cannot speak anymore and it takes a lot of energy. We will try and read her emails.

Love, The Gatbuntons

What a rollercoaster of a day. I will try and update it tomorrow since it is after 1am.

This hospital has been a pain in the butt. The only saving graces are the two nurses we have had.

Long story short… we didn’t get the xray until 4pm and then didn’t get the CT scan until 8pm.

Mom has a pulmonary edema in the lungs so they are treating it with lovonox?

More tomorrow. Oh and one of the Doctors who looked at moms chart for five minutes said

“she’s near the end.”

I hope to wake up to a better world.

Michael

Wwe took mom to to the emergency room, and she was not doing well. She is so excited to get to her appointment in Scottsdale. She asked to be released, so we had to find a company that could deliver the necessary oxygen she needed to get through the night.

The next morning we set out for Scottsdale. the clinic was very nice, but mom was not looking good. halway through the interview, the Dr. said we needed to get mom stable before anything could continue. He wanted to admit her, but mom wanted to be closer to the house. The ambulance crew showed up and refused to transport mom because she was so bad.

Mom agreed to be stabilized first, and then was transported back to Del Webb hospital.

We are3 currently waiting an xray so that mom ’s doctor can order a procedure to remove all of the fluid in moms lungs (50%).

I am not trying to be pessimistic, but the situation is touch and go. Mom could make a comeback as she is know for, or it mom could pass away at any time. This is as serious as it has been ever.

We do need prayers badly. If you wish to send a email to mom, you can write to ewi@comcast.net

Thank you very much for the prayers… the Gatbunton

Today is Monday and Mom was just released yesterday in the late afternoon from Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, CA. She was doing really well on the day of her admission. She was able to maintain normal oxygen levels without assistance and her potassium, blood pressure and blood sugar had all returned to normal. We all felt that she was okay to be released. She was even doing some walking with the assistance of a walker and able to get up from the couch with her walker, which she was unable to do prior to her hospitalization. I was really starting to think that the IV fluids, oxygen and potassium she received in the hospital were successful in giving her a boost, albeit temporary.

I decided to stay in California and return to Arizona on Friday and stay through Monday. I thought this would work out well since my brother was leaving for Arizona on Thursday in order to be at Relay on Friday. My brother and I have learned to Divide and Conquer since there is just the two of us children in the family.

Today, less than one day after being released from the hospital, my Mom’s condition seemed worse. Her edema returned to her ankles worse than before and her exhaustion and breathing was severe. Still, her goal was to get to Arizona for the appointment on Tuesday so we proceeded with the plan. Dad had an extremely difficult day today preparing for their trip to Arizona. Upon arriving at the airport, we realized that my Mom forget her purse at our house. Luckily, my Dad carries her ID with him, but, her purse had one week’s worth of meds, her albuterol inhaler, handicap parking pass and her cell phone. So, Paul and I rushed home to get her purse to try to make it back in time for their flight. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad decided that it was cutting it too close because they had to wait for me outside of security. By the time we got back to the airport it would have given them only 15 minutes prior to departure time. So, we decided I would FedEx her purse for Wednesday delivery. Since my Mom has all her supply of meds in the carry on luggage, we decided she could rely on those meds until her purse arrived on Wed.

But, the coast wasn’t clear. While my Dad was helping my Mom put on her mask, someone took his luggage- the one with all the medication supply in it! Luckily, they recovered the luggage (apparently, someone took it by mistake) but, naturally my Dad was really pissed off and yelled at the stupid idiot for taking his luggage- luggage that just happened to have his wife’s only supply of medication! (and thousands of dollar worth of prescription medications that my Mom solely relies on.) My Dad was so angry that the airlines almost didn’t let him on the plane. He calmed down and explained to them how important that luggage is so they let him on the plane.

Less than 2 hours after arriving at their home in Arizona, my Mom’s ability to breathe becomes more and more difficult. My Dad and brother decide not to take any changes and they call an ambulance. It’s 11 pm and they are at the emergency room right now with my Mom. She is on oxygen again and they repeated the chest x-ray so that they can compare it to the x-ray that was taken on Friday. She has an irregular heartbeat and her pulse is 130 bpm so they are trying to figure out what it going on. It’s definitely a crisis right now. Prayers, prayers and more prayers are needed right now to give my Mom and the rest of us the strength to get through this. I’m especially worried about my Dad because I don’t know how much more of this he can take. He is at the end of his rope. That’s why my brother and I think it is so important for one of us to be with them so that my Dad isn’t alone.

I’ll post again as soon as we have more info…

Hello everyone. This is a very recent update. it is 4:21am on Monday morning. I am hurrying to get stuff ready to travel to meet mom dad and Christine in Arizona. here is a quick update of last weeks events.

Before leaving California, I told Chris and Dad that we should call Dr. G. I was feeling there should be something we could do for mom, instead of just watch. I called Wednesday morning, and spoke with a nurse who was not familiar with moms case. Dr. G was supposed to call back Thursday, but didn’t. Christine and dad were really starting to sorry now, so Christine called Dr. G and got ahold of him. He told her to take mom to the emergency room. Upon arrival, they discovered mom had pneumonia, as well as low potassium and also low oxygen intake levels. After two days of IV anti-biotics, as well as potassium supplements, and straight oxygen, they released mom today with the ok to travel to AZ Monday.

They also told us that since mom wwas not really able to eat, her body was shutting down (thus the edema in the ankle area). mom now knows that it is important to try and force food. She is “better” for now (relatively speaking). We are very glad things are not worse, and in fact, maybe just a tad bit better than her best day last week. (Still not better than prior to leaving Tacoma though)

I hope and pray that things will go well this week, and even more so, moms appointment at the Scottsdale clinic is a one in a million shot at extending her life. I also hope to return in time for the Tacoma Relay for Life, which is very important to our family.

Thank you for the prayers…for those of you who are familiar with it, mom has been requesting Divine Mercy Chaplets. Mom also has a special devotion to St Jude, Padre Pio, Blessed Teresa, Pope JPII, and St Peregrine.

More from AZ tomorrow!

Dear friends and family,

Something is different now. The options are limited if any. Mom’s treatment has not gone as we have hoped and prayed. Since last Saturday, we have noticed a steady decline in her condition.

Don’t get me wrong, we can never count mom out. The prayers and her will to live, as well as great medical care have given us many memories, and yet for the first time … I am really afraid. I haven’t wanted to write this because I know she reads it… but I think mom really needs a miracle now.

It so difficult to watch someone you love suffering. It so hard to come to grips that I may be watching my mom dying. I don’t think anyone will or could love me as much as my mom. For that matter, I don’t know many people with the ability to express their love so fully and selflessly.

I miss her already.

The other day when we went through security she said to the screener, “My name is Corazon, will you please pray for me… I am dying.”

Mom is so tired all the time now. The things she would always still manage to do, like email, phone calls, and playing with the kids, she is unable to do. She still works so hard to look good. when we went to Nina’s 1st Communion tonight, mom looked great, but she was so tired so very quickly.

Her feet are swelling… she fell this morning… I was just laying down by her, and the sound coming from her lungs sounded so horrible.

I keep thinking I will wake up and she will have bounced back, and be having one of her good days again. She has surprised us so many times.

Mom is not on treatment right now though, so the only thing that can be making her so tired, and weak is the cancer growing inside her.

I will try and keep this site updated. For those who email or talk to mom, she may not be able to check messages, but we will try and keep everyone posted.

I don’t mean to frighten anyone, but I also thought those who care should know the situation.

Thank you for caring enough to read this. Thank you for your prayers.