Maggie

“My dear friend Magdalena was diagnosed with brain cancer last March. She has anaplastic oligodandunglioma (sp?), stage 3. The doctors performed a craniotomy and removed as much of the tumor as possible. They tried to treat the remaining part of the tumor with radiation and chemotherapy. This treatment did nothing. Nada. Zippo. The damn thing grew. Now they are treating her with a different type of chemo which makes her violently ill. She finished her first round and today she goes back to Duke University for an evaluation to find out if this is working.

Maggie has four children, ages 8 – 16. She is a loving mother and wife. She is also a strong believer in prayer. So if you would, please remember her in your prayers, send good vibes, whisper her name from a mountaintop, light a candle, or whatever. She would be tickled to know that a bunch of backpackers are thinking about her all over the country.”

“Done!”

“:-(”

“Will do!”

“best wishes for her.”

“Thanks you guys.”

“Done.”

“sending good vibes and good wishes!!”

“Very sorry to hear of your friend's Magdalena's great challenge.

I will definitely pray for her.

Though unusual, there have been cases of spontaneous remissions of some pretty serious CA. (CA=cancer).

Hope springs eternal :)

Highcountry”

“Ah, CJ, I'm so sorry about your friend.
I wish I were going to be in the mountains sooner. Tell Maggie I will send her healing thoughts starting now, and then in October when I am in the Sierras I will call for help for her from the highest place I can find.

Jerry and I strung beads on a hawk feather and carried it to Trail Crest (didn't feel we had time to do Whitney with the snow and all) on the HST trip this July. We used it in a small blessing we did there for our friend, Janine. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor this April. Inoperable, radiation did nothing. She's on chemo now.”

“Maggie just received a good report from Duke University. The tumor has diminished in size considerably. She will continue with the chemo cycles through next spring. In the meantime, they have given her medicinal pot in pill format to reduce the nausea and increase her appetite! So I am on my way over to her house to celebrate with a gift of my best hippie beads, incense and a big bag of munchies.

She says thanks to everyone for the good wishes!”

“ALLRIGHT! Good news. Keep her smiling! Laughter can be the best form of medicine!”

“Hippy beads? There are still some around? Did you get them at a yard sale or what?”

“Mag is losing her war. The family has started hospice. She is still at home surrounded by her family and friends. She spends about 23 hours per day sleeping. She does not appear to be uncomforable, but she gets very frustrated at having to depend on others for basic things. She has brief moments of lucidity, and then she leaves reality just as quickly.

I frequently visit her during my lunch hours. Today she was awake and lucid when I got there and she asked me if I brought her ice cream. Well, I had not, but I ran downstairs quickly and got a dish for her. As I was feeding it to her, I told her about taking her daugther to Virginia Tech for her freshman orientation last week. She said that was the last thing she remembered before she went away. When I asked her where she went, she said she couldn't remember, but she was alone and there were lots of lights.

I told her that I would be losing my job and that I will have an opportunity to hike the AT next year. I asked her if I should do that, and she said "why not?" I asked her if she still thought I was nuts for wanting to sleep in the woods. She said "yes, but I love you anyway".”

“very sad, but very touching as well. You are such a super person, CD.”

“I just prayed for Maggie.”

“It can be a horrible thing to deal with CD. It's important for her to have loved ones around her. I would imagine she has plenty of morphine in her system right now as well, which can make it tough to communicate.

Hopefully this will be a peaceful as possible.”

“The exchange was touching. I'm picturing too old (been friends long time, not old people) friends, one in a bed, one in a chair at bed's edge just having a simple chat.

I imagine the freshman orientation was a very bittersweet experience for you and your friends daughter.”

“Thanks you guys.”

“It's very sad. I'm sure she loves having you there and it's great you are there for her.”

“Maggie passed away peacefully Saturday morning. She leaves behind four beautiful children, a loving husband, and lots of friends and family who love her.”

“I'm sorry for your loss...and that of the family and other friends.”

“I just noticed that this thread was first posted 3 years and 1 day ago.”