Monday, August 17, 2009

In Loving Memory of Barbara Ann Morgan


I never like taking my wife, Michelle, to the airport.
However, today I not only dropped off Michelle, but also my 1-year old son and my mother Linda as well. I don't have any regrets about this trip, however. Michelle is currently on a flight from Seattle to Phoenix, then on to her home state of New Mexico. Michelle's cousin, Barbara Ann Morgan, died Friday, August 14, 2009, and the family is having a funeral for her this Wednesday. Yep, another victim of Endometrial (uterine)cancer. cdc.gov/cancer/uterine/index.htm
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, uterine cancer typically strikes women over 50. Unfortunately, Barb didn't live to see her 50th birthday.
Barb, a resident of Olympia, Washington, for the past several years, was diagnosed last year with the disease.
Other than remembering that celebrity Fran Drescher copingmag.com/cwc/index.php/celebrities/celebrity_article/fran_drescher battled the disease, my only experience with uterine cancer was a patient I took care of at a hospital in the midwest during my final weeks of nursing school. I remember her quite well, especially the Morphine I was giving her every hour...and that was barely relieving her pain.
Every trip we made from Everett to Olympia to visit her was worth it. From the time she had a melon-shaped tumor removed from her abdominal area, to the moments we spent listening to her late-night gasps for air and grunts while walking to her bathroom at her home in Olympia, it's encouraging to know that her battle is over. The cancer had not only spread to her stomach, but to her kidneys and spine. Eventually, it slowly collapsed both of her lungs as well.
Though we weren't in Phoenix on the 14th to witness her death, it is comforting to know that Barb was surrounded by many loving family members in her last moments on earth.
Barb has a supportive family that lives miles away in Arizona. Despite the distance, either her father, mother or sisters were with her every step of her battle since January of this year. The family fought hard to pull her away from the beautiful state of Washington, and won.
Barb: thanks for the laughs. Thanks for your fighter's spirit. Though I don't know all the battles that you were fighting inside, I never heard you complain once.
With love, Brian.
(Picture: Barb, at left, with cousin Michelle Brandser)

By Brian Brandser, RN, BSN, CCRN, CLNC

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