Cancer Patient Dies With Dignity

Dying Well: Our Journey of Love and Loss

Author: Susan Ducharme Hoben

Publisher: Canton Press

Publication Date: March 18, 2018

Length: 290 Pages




About the Author
Susan Ducharme Hoben feels passionately that we Americans do not die well, taking a terrible toll on us, emotionally and financially. She hopes that her experience with an uplifting end-of-life journey can contribute a valuable perspective to the growing interest in exploring how we die. 

An Uplifting End-Of-Life Journey
Susan Hoben was a breast cancer survivor. 

In 2008. Bruce Hoben was diagnosed with a tumor where the esophagus joins the stomach. Bruce was 67-years-old and appeared to be in excellent physical condition.

Bruce was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor. There was also significant disease in the lymph nodes and four nodules on the liver. Bruce had stage 4 cancer and the prognosis was not good.

Bruce received chemotherapy treatments and experienced a brief remission. When the cancer came back, the Hobens decided to refuse any further treatments and let the disease run it's course. This is their story.

My Thoughts
This book was written in the form of a personal diary or journal.

Mrs. Hoben wrote about her husband's final months with love, compassion and empathy. This book is truly a celebration of life.

Bruce Hoben spent his final weeks saying goodbye to former coworkers, neighbors, friends and family members. The family events and interactions were especially heart-warming and poignant.

Mr. Hoben did not spend his final days in a hospital undergoing extreme measures that would put his quality of life in jeopardy. He was under the care of his physician and a hospice service, but he stayed at home with his loved ones.

Bruce Hoben passed away peacefully and surrounded by family on June 15, 2009. 

This book is an excellent resource for families who are facing end-of-life decisions. We will all have to face our own deaths and the deaths of loved ones. This book provides many important subjects to think about.  Highly recommended!

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5


FYI ~ I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

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A Transplant for the Cure - Moving Forward

Karen Luehrman is preparing to receive her first pre-transplant
chemotherapy treatment at the University of Kansas Cancer Center.

Last week I received an email from Nurse Ellen Maxwell with the heading, "Moving Forward". It said that Karen's stem cell transplant is scheduled for November 17th. This is the third transplant date that has been set since the end of May.
 The first transplant date was postponed because Karen's CLL  changed into prolymphocytic leukemia and she had to take a three-month course of Campath. The second proposed transplant date was postponed because of a systemic fungal infection.

It looks like the transplant is going to happen this time. I flew from Houston to Kansas City yesterday. Karen and I reported to the University of Kansas Cancer Clinic at 8:00am today. Karen already has a tri-line in her chest, so the nurse started an IV with fluids as soon as we entered the office. She then started the first pre-transplant chemotherapy treatment. The treatment took about 30 minutes. I didn't even know she was getting the chemotherapy until it was all over. A pharmacist came in and talked to Karen about the medications she would be taking over the next week. Karen left the building with two large bags full of prescription medicines.



I was getting my first two Neupogen shots.

As the stem cell donor, I am required to take two shots of Neupogen for four days in a row. My first shots were today. I did not know the shots would be given in my stomach. This was an unpleasant surprise. The nurse said she had to give me two separate shots because the dose was too large to be absorbed in one place. The nurse grabbed my stomach fat, and stabbed me with a large needle. The first shot seemed like it would last forever, and I felt a burning sensation as the substance entered my body. The second shot did not last as long and the burning was not as severe. I felt a little dizzy after the shots, but that might have just been anxiety from seeing those long needles.

The pharmacist was talking to Karen about her medications. 

 Neupogen (Filgrastim) is used to increase the number of stem cells in the blood before collection for use in stem cell transplantation. I was only given a limited amount of information about the possible side effects of this drug. I was told I might suffer from some bone and joint pain or possible headaches. I was NOT told that the use of Neupogen could result in serious allergic reactions (including a rash over the whole body, shortness of breath, wheezing, dizziness, swelling around the mouth or eyes, fast pulse, and sweating), ruptured spleen (sometimes resulting in death) and an assortment of other ailments. The long-term effects are not known. (Source: Wikipedia)

I agreed to be a stem cell donor because my sister has a terminal disease and a transplant is the only hope for a cure. At the age of 62, I hope that my good health will not be compromised by the transplant procedure. Most stem cell donors are many years younger than I am, but an exact match is hard to come by.

It may seem like I have a wimpy attitude and I just need to suck it up. The fact is, I live a very sheltered life. My sweet husband protects me from all the problems of the world and my life consists of doing art, crafts, reading, and walking with my dogs. I can honestly say, I have no problems after seeing dozens of leukemia and lymphoma patients come to the clinic seeking radical bone marrow transplants.

Karen and I are staying with our youngest sister, Lois Crane, during the preliminary treatments. Today was Lois' birthday! I appreciate her hospitality and hope we can do a little more birthday celebrating tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be another day of chemotherapy for Karen and Neupogen shots for me.  Sweet dreams.

A Transplant for the Cure - Summer, 2008

My sister Karen was always a very active person. She loved to work outside in her yard and garden. She enjoyed hiking and biking in the near-by parks.

Things began to change in the summer of 2008. She felt fatigue and noticed that the lymph glands under her arms were swollen. She also developed an annoying cough.

Karen had numerous medical tests run and eventually she was diagnosed with CLL/SLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia/ small lymphocytic lymphoma). My sister had cancer in her blood. 

Hurricane Ike hit southeast Texas in August, and our electricity was out for over a week. We loaded up the truck and went to my mother-in-law's house in Oklahoma to wait for our electricity to be restored. While we were in Oklahoma, my sister was in the hospital in St. Louis.

I decided to fly to St. Louis the next week and stay with my sister when she got home from the hospital. I arrived in St. Louis on Saturday and Karen was out of the hospital and feeling much better. On Sunday, my mother, father, Karen and I spent the afternoon at the Route 66 State Park in Eureka, Missouri. I took some pictures and later used them to make the video slideshow that I have posted below.

The next week, I went with Karen to receive a chemotherapy treatment at the hospital. This was the first time I had witnessed a treatment like this. She laid back in a reclining chair and received the chemotherapy through an IV in her arm. It seemed to be fairly easy and painless.

Karen was not going to let this affliction keep her down. She went back to work at Joyce Meyer Ministries before the end of the week and I was left at home watching TV and catching up on my reading.

I headed back to Texas thinking that she would soon be in remission and back to her old lifestyle.

She was in remission several times...but the disease kept coming back.

Help For Katie

Jak Heath, a greeting card designer and member of Mo's Digital Pencil Design Team, is sponsoring a fund raiser event for Katie Emmerson Renz.  Katie is married to Kevin and they have 3 beautiful boys... the twins Nate & Will aged 5 and Hunter aged 10.  Katie and Kevin received some news just before Christmas that has rocked their world as they know it.
Katie has been diagnosed with stage 4 Stomach Cancer and is currently undergoing her only option which is Chemotherapy.
Katie is a fellow crafter and is loved within the crafting community.  Katie is writing about her fight with cancer on her blog.
Jak is asking fellow paper crafters to donate 15 Pounds (Approx. $24.00) to help with medical bills and to help the family with expenses.
Everyone who makes a donation will receive a beautiful collection of digital stamps that have been donated by artists and designers. 
I donated to this cause earlier in the week and I am thrilled with the digital stamps that I received.  Many of these images were designed specifically for this fund raiser.

For more information, please click here.