July 10 update

From Mike:
The latest news is difficult to share, so forgive any bluntness or lack of emotion.

Much has happened in the last ten days.  Unfortunately, Linda's liver function has been rapidly deteriorating over the last few weeks. 

This turn has happened so suddenly and so strongly that Linda's body is no longer able to tolerate further treatment. (Most chemos are processed by the liver, and the Dr feels strongly that any further chemo would likely do much more harm than good, causing the liver to shut down prematurely and robbing Linda of her remaining precious moments). 

We have explored and carefully considered a great number of treatments, but sadly none are options at this point.  No chemotherapies, no clinical trials, no local radiation therapies, no hormonal therapies, and no other therapies remain as options due to the current state of Linda's liver.

Based on these results, Linda has decided to shift from active disease-fighting treatment to palliative care to maximize the quality of her remaining life.  We have met with Hospice nurses over the last few days, and they've been able to help in many ways (better managing pain, getting a comfortable hospital bed, oxygen, etc.). 

As Linda has wished, she will be able to spend her remaining days comfortable at home.

Though Linda is unable to fight the cancer with direct treatments, her fight is certainly not over.  The fight has simply shifted to a different type of fight: Continuing to "Live, Laugh, and Love" in the face of this disease is the new battle.  In true Linda-fashion, we went from the hospital (where we made this difficult decision to transition to Hospice), directly to the shore for a couple of days (thanks Coco and family!).  And a rough day of fatigue and pain couldn't keep Linda from enjoying fireworks with loved ones on the 4th.

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I wrote the above a couple days ago.  And unfortunately, Linda's condition continues to deteriorate.  Over the last few days, she is sleeping almost all the time, with much confusion during her limited time awake. Through last night I noticed a significant decrease in strength, so I'm not sure whether we can expect further moments of coherence.

A clarification on pain and medication: we've been doing everything we can to be sure that Linda is feeling no pain-- that's the goal of Hospice care, to make Linda as comfortable as possible.  So please know that she does seem comfortable and at peace now.

Visitors: For now, I think it is best to absolutely minimize the number of visitors to the very, very closest family and friends.  This is a very difficult decision because there are so many of you who love and care for her so much, and obviously complicated and very difficult due to the rapid decline in her health.  Several days ago, Linda was really feeling overwhelmed by visitors-- I think visitors are exhausting and stressful for her at this point (wanting to be awake and to entertain; and also much frustration at not being able to find the right words). 

While Linda is not able to check emails/txts/facebook/voicemails, I am doing my best to collect all of those messages and read them to her.  I do feel that she can still understand all of your messages of love and support, so please feel free to keep them coming.  I'll do everything I can to make sure Linda hears them.  I think that hearing your voices (via voicemail) or even possibly seeing your faces (via a video message) would be a fantastic way to reach out to her.