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TOBY 1946-2003


Photo of Toby My Mom, Toby, age 57, dx with PC in 2000, dx with pancreantitis 1997. Mom had a birth defect, only one duct instead of 2 in her pancreas, causing the minor duct to have blockages, which gave her the acute pancreantitis pain. Because of the one duct, she had to go to an expert ERCP surgeon, Dr. Martin, at Maine Medical. He did the 12 or more ERCP's to unblock her ducts. She became jaundice, a blockage in her bile duct, and that is when she finally decided to have the whipple done, so to end the pancreatits pain.

She underwent the whipple surgery in June of 2000. This is when we found a small 1cm tumor mark at the incision line. She then had 5FU and radiation with success. She was cancer-free for 6 months. We found it back again in Jan of 2002, 2 cm this time, no mets, and she went to Dr. Bruckner, Brooklyn NY, who suggested a 5 chemo cocktail (Gemzar, Cisplatin, Camptosar and 5FU plus one more) 2x weekly for 6 months. She tolerated this aggressive chemo as well as could be expected - had numerous transfusions. This gave her another year, we believe.

She went to Staten Island Hospital for Radiostatic Surgery.

Last December 2002 she went on a 14 day cruise with my father. She was healthy, and eating normally, enjoying life and buying jewelry and swimming and having a wonderful pain-free time. The minute she stepped off the boat, we had more problems.

The tumor had metastacized to the liver. She died June 19, 10:30am, surrounded by her husband and her two children. Just the way she wanted it to be.

She loved bingo and casinos, QVC and shopping. She would stop a stranger on the street just to chat. She had a vitality for life that was strong. She loved her family. She loved her children, and ached for grandchildren, to spoil. She loved her husband, she used to tell me she loved him more than the day they got married. She would do anything for her family. And she smiled all the time. Even on her worst days, she would still smile when her children walked in the door.

She made it long enough to see her son become a member of the Union our family has been in for generations. She made it long enough to meet and enjoy the company of a very special man in her daughter's life.

Her funeral was attended by 500+ people. She touched so many lives. She is now with her parents in heaven, watching down on us. Love you Mom. Until we meet again.....

Posted 07/04/2003 03:30 pm by Meredith
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