I have created this page to easily keep friends and family
updated on Mom's treatment of metastasized carcinoid cancer of the liver.
This is not liver cancer. It is cancer spread from elsewhere. To learn more
about carcinoid cancer, click here.
Want to call her or send a card, but unsure what to say? Obviously "get well
soon" doesn't quite cut it with an incurable disease. Just let her know you're
thinking about her and wish her well. That means more and helps her spirits more
than anything you can imagine.
She has not "given up" by any means. She is planning to attend the Vizsla Club
of America Nationals, fulfill her commitment as a VCA Director, and attend a
"canine cruise" next spring. The overwhelming support of the Vizsla
community has been inspiring.
The most recent entries will be added to the bottom of this
page.
Words to live by: "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO what a ride!'"
July 16, 2004 Friday
Mom was taken to Waukesha Memorial Hospital with apparent heart attack symptoms.
She and Dad were shopping when she started to have chest pains and shortness of
breath. Within 30 minutes of arrival, a heart attack was ruled out, and the ER
docs began ultra-sounds to check her gall bladder. It was at this time they saw
a "shadow" on her pancreas, and a CT scan was scheduled for the following day.
July 17, 2004 Saturday
The CT scan showed mom's pancreas to be normal, but spots consistent with
metastasized cancer were discovered on her liver. They gave the diagnosis of
terminal cancer at 2:14 pm. Basically, the doctor covering for her GP said "You
had better go out and ride your horses and run your dogs for the next 6 months."
More tests scheduled.
July 18, 2004 Sunday
Mom underwent an endoscopy. No signs of primary tumors found in her upper GI
tract.
July 19, 2004 Monday
7:30 am Mom's GP (Dr. Sander) came in to tell her that her liver was "totally
involved" in cancer, and she had less than two months to live.
Mom went in for a colonoscopy, mammogram, and bone scan throughout the day.
1:30 pm the oncologist, Dr. Lemabre told her that she "shows no signs of having
cancer this advanced, and we're not going to count you out just yet."
Mom had histoplasmosis as a kid, and it has left lesions on her lungs & backs of
her eyeballs. Whenever she needed a chest X-ray for something, doctors would
usually panic because the histo lesions look similar to tuberculosis lesions.
The doctors are saying that the spots on the liver are not consistent with histo
lesions.
July 20, 2004 Tuesday
All test results have come back clear. The doctors forgot to give "no
food/water" orders yesterday, so mom ordered a light breakfast of toast & juice.
Rather than reschedule the liver biopsy for later in the day or the following
day, they went ahead and did the biopsy with lidocaine only. Mom was in
excruciating pain.
My opinion of Waukesha Memorial and their physicians is dropping exponentially
by the minute.
The phone calls, cards, and letters of support really mean a lot to all of us
right now.
July 21, 2004 Wednesday
Mom got released today. Max was so happy to see her until her sniffed her. He
backed up and gave a little growl, then sulked off to another room. The only
thing we can figure is the doctors pumped her full of so much radioactive crap
that he thought she'd been body snatched.
She got the call at 6:30 pm that she has metastasized carcinoid cancer in
the liver. This was pretty devastating, we all thought they had made a mistake
with all of the test results coming back clear. The primary cancer site has not
been found.
In retrospect, mom has been exhibiting symptoms of the carcinoid for a little
over a month. The symptoms mom has are: itching, flushing, fatigue and
nausea. The carcinoids put out seratonin (neuro-stimulant) and tryptophan (the
turkey nap hormone). Basically, the same symptoms she had during menopause a
decade ago.
July 23, 2004 Friday
I had to take mom back to Waukesha for a small bowel scan.
We requested copies of her records.
I think the modus operandi for the people in medical records at WMH is to make
it as difficult as possible for patients to get copies, hoping that many just
crawl off into a corner and die, therefore avoiding having to do any actual
work.
July 27, 2004 Tuesday
We toured the bowels of hell this morning. I'm pretty sure we saw a dusty
skeleton with a pirate patch chained to the wall in one corner of the hospital's
labyrinth of a basement on the way to get mom's records. No wonder these
people are cranky. They're locked in a dungeon all day long. I would not have
been surprised to see Renfield & Quasimodo walking around down there, it was that bad!
July 29, 2004 Thursday
We took mom into Froedert Memorial Hospital (part of the Milwaukee Medical
College complex) to see Dr. Quebbeman, a liver surgeon.
He confirmed that mom's cancer is too advanced for surgery to be an option.
We kind of expected this, but it doesn't get any easier to hear. At least he was
very nice, understanding, and answered our questions as best he could.
August 1, 2004 Monday
Mom tried calling the oncologist from Waukesha Memorial for an appointment. The
absolute earliest they could "squeeze her in" was the first week in September.
She called UW-Madison, and they will see her on August 16th.
August 1, 2004 Tuesday
Mom went in for an Octreotide scan. This is kind of cool. They inject you with
radioactive material that is attracted to live cancer cells in the body.
The only places that showed up were in her liver. The primary cancer is
evidently microscopic.
August 16, 2004 Monday
We just walked in the door from UW-Madison. The oncologists there are MUCH
better than what we have experienced so far (and we were there for 5 hours
total)
Basically, what we have heard thus far is accurate.
The difference here being that Dr. Mulkerin will be starting mom on octreotide (sandostatin
http://www.sandostatin.com/index.html ) which
should block the hormones the carcinoids are throwing off (seratonin, tryptophan,
and HIAA) that are causing the fatigue and burning-nettle sensation. In a
miniscule amount of cases, the tumors have actually reduced with the Sandostatin
LAR, but he said that's it's such a small amount to not hold out hope for that.
I take her back tomorrow for the "big shot" which should last a month. If the
radiologist at UW finds mom's liver's blood supply is in the normal places and
the tumors are located in the right areas, they will go in to do a bland
embolization (temporarily clog the hepatic artery) on one lobe of the liver in
attempt to starve the carcinoids. If that is successful, and once she has
recovered from the large amounts of dead tissue to be absorbed, they will then
go in and take care of the other lobe by clogging the hepatic vein.
Dr. Mulkerin is also conducting a clinical trial in conjunction with Mayo that
she MAY be eligible for.
Transplanting a liver is not an option because of the lack of primary tumor
removal. They're not going to let your body kill someone else's liver, too
What I did learn today is that the reason the carcinoid has no cure from
current chemo/radiation is the same reason it's also one of the better cancers
to have, if you have to have an incurable one. This is my synopsis of carcinoid
versus other cancers: The chemo/radiation is readily absorbed by the "regular"
cancer cells in their hunger to feed/reproduce. The carcinoid
cells grow at about the same rate as normal healthy cells, so they don't
absorb the treatment as well, if at all. That's the short version.
The other thing, if she is a candidate for the embolism procedure, the
carcinoids will be releasing all of their lovely hormones in really high
doses, all at once, just before they die off or shrink. I am envisioning the
puffball mushrooms we used to stomp on as kids. The hot flashes, itching and
fatigue are bad enough at the current rate of hormone release. I can't
imagine what it will be like in exponential doses. I told her today that if
she starts to spontaneously combust from one of those hot flashes, she's on
her own, I'm grabbing dogs, the cat, the horses, and heading for the hills ;-)
I did ask that if the tumors shrunk enough, could they do some kind of "-ectomy" on her liver lobes. The answer was "NO" the tumors are too diffuse and
too numerous to even make that a consideration.
So, this is not a cure. It is a quality of life and extension of life. But it's
not a cure.
It was made very clear that the only reason they are starting any kind of
treatment this fast is because of the advanced involvement of the liver. Dr.
Mulkerin said that the normal approach is "look and see", as in "let's bring
you back in for another CT scan in 3-4 months and see how fast the carcinoids
are really growing." He said that at this stage, it doesn't matter how fast, it
needs to be reduced or she will have further liver function impairment.
August 17, 2004 Tuesday
I took Mom back up to Madison for the "big" sandostatin shot. We have a surgery date!!!
Mom is a candidate for the bland embolization. It is an inpatient procedure.
Surgery will be on August 24th.
August 24, 2004 Tuesday
Mom made it through the procedure well. And according to the radiologist, Dr.
Wojtawich, the embolization did "as good as we could have expected." This is
good news!
August 25, 2004 Wednesday
Mom is getting released. I am not comfortable with this at all. I wish they
would keep her an extra day to make sure that she doesn't get really sick from
the dying tissue.
August 26, 2004 Thursday
As I guessed, Mom came home and refuses to take her pain meds. I am not a
"pain-weenie" but I also believe that if a doctor actually goes through the
trouble of prescribing something stronger than Tylenol, odds are pretty good you're going to
need it. They don't go passing out Percodan like candy you know.
The pain hit in full force at 3:00 this afternoon. Now we get to play catch-up
like we did with her ankle. Oh joy.
August 27, 2004 Friday
We have experienced spiking fevers, pain Mom ranked at a 10 (which is more than
she ranked her post-surgical ankle--apparently the 12 hours of back labor I put
her through is now down from "9" to a "6" on her life-time pain experiences - so
now there's proof I'm not the worst thing that has happened to her), nausea from
the painkillers, and of course, the lower GI problems caused by the pain
meds. All she keeps saying is "This had better be from cancer dying!!!"
Getting the milk of magnesia down Mom's throat was thrilling. I told her she
either had to swallow it, or I will get a turkey baster and force it down
her throat like I used to do for the dogs. Same with the pills. If I can shove a
pill down a cats throat for crying out loud, it shouldn't be that hard to get a
HUMAN to take the damned things.
August 28, 2004
We constructed a water garden for mom this week. TJ and Mike came to arrange
rocks and spread mulch. Dad's calling it "Carcinoid Falls." When we
went to buy the pond liners, I noticed the resident owl that the owners are
rehabbing. I thought I'd take a few pictures, but owls, like the Amish,
apparently object to having their picture taken. He came flying at my head. This
picture is just after I dodged out of the way. He landed right where I had been
standing. Note that he still looks perturbed. The screech he made while
coming at me is not something I will soon forget. I feel sorry for
gophers.
August 29, 2004 Sunday
We got the pain under control at the cost of Mom's sanity. She started
hallucinating from the high doses of pain meds which was absolutely no fun for
any of us. I started to wean her down, but it was a little too late. The
spiders were crawling all over the ceiling by then.
September 1, 2004 Wednesday
Dad is taking Mom back up to Madison. She is unable to eat or drink enough to
sustain herself. I am sure that a lot of the pain and nausea she is experiencing
right now is from dehydration. The inability to eat is caused by the more
inflamed state of her liver.
September 3, 2004 Friday
Mom is back home again. It is amazing what a half-dozen bags of fluid will do
for you! She is back to normal again. While she was in the hospital, they
took another CT and reported that "large amounts of liver have been killed." One
can only assume that means large amounts of the carcinoids have gone with it.
The prognosis at this point is unknown. While carcinoid is the typically the slowest growing of the cancers (she could have had this for a decade already), we really have no way of knowing how fast hers is growing because she had never had the battery of test performed before. Healthy people don't usually get poked, prodded, and probed to the tune of $30,000.
Now that there are some baseline scans, it will be easier to give a prognosis in a few months.
TJ bought a "pitcher plant" for her to keep in the bedroom. This way she has protection for the "spiders" Apparently a warped sense of humor runs in the family. Although, only my brother would have thought to buy a bug-eating plant.
We've also spent more time talking about any previous symptoms she may have had and ignored. There really hasn't been anything that would have made a doctor order a CT scan, or even make her suspect something was wrong. Although her massage person has been saying for the last few years that her liver meridian was off, but that's about it. It's not like a doctor is going to order tests because "my masseuse says..."
September 7, 2004
Mom is feeling much better. Anyone having anything to discuss with her can
get normal responses now :-) So if anyone wants to call her, the phone lines
are open pretty much during daylight hours. Some days are still better than
others, but the string of better days is getting longer.
She goes in on the 13th for another of the Sandostatin shots to keep the
carcinoid symptoms under control, and get a check-up on what's been done so far.
Her warped humor is back as well. Someone came to the house that hasn't seen her
in a while and didn't know what was going on. They said to her "My god you've
lost a lot of weight, you look great"
Mom's response was: "Yeah, I've been on the DC Diet. You've heard of the
LA Diet? Well I'm on the Deadly Cancer Diet. Apparently nobody liked me when I
was fat and healthy, but now that I'm on the DC Diet, everyone loves the way I
look."
Squashed them like a bug . Got to love it.
September 13, 2004
Mom's friend Mary took her up to Madison today for her check-ups & Mary took
notes of everything the doctor's said, so I may be adding more updates here
later... This whole day was a really welcomed break for me...
Anyways, the doctors told mom she can come off the morphine now, and are trying
a different ulcer drug. They also gave her another steroid to help with
the inflammation, and gave her another bag of fluids.
The liver is still swollen enough that she is physically unable to drink enough
to keep hydrated. Since her stomach still doesn't have room to expand, she
always has to make the choice of eating or drinking, not both.
I was hoping she'd feel well enough to come to the field trial with me this
weekend. I figured that if we took the motor home, it wouldn't matter if she
felt like she needed to take a nap, because she could just do it. We'll see...
September 13, 2004 Part II (from Mary's notes from today)
Basically, they have changed a few of Mom's meds to help ease the nausea. She
also gets to stop the morphine.
Of all of the ways to treat this cancer, the bland embolism is a brute force
way, but the best way to knock the carcinoids down.
IF things are OK within two weeks, she could call to have the next procedure -
as it will take an additional two weeks to get her in the rotation. If not,
wait to call for 4 weeks.
When she asked if she could ride her horse, the Doctor wanted to know
if she wore a helmet. He said there is no restrictions for activities, and that
jostling will not increase risk, BUT WEAR A HELMET. He said a fall could
be bad. (okay, Michel's side note here...we ALL should be wearing helmets out
there, myself included! Although that wouldn't have helped my hip or Mom's
ankle)
September 15, 2004 Wednesday
As of this Saturday, she will have beat the prognosis from the GP that told her
she had less than two months to live.
September 16, 2004 Thursday
Well, to add insult to injury (or maybe it's the other way around!) mom broke a
toe last night while trying to get out of bed. Unfortunately, this clutz gene
has been inherited by yours truly.
Gilda Radner was right... "It's always something."
Now mom doesn't have to decide if she feels well enough to try going to the field trial.
September 24, 2004 Friday
Mom goes back to the doctor on October 4th. At this time they will schedule her
for the bland embolization of the left liver lobe.
She is feeling a little better. Her friend Cindi took her shopping earlier this week for new jeans since nothing fits anymore.
She's making plans for the VCA Nationals down in Texas this November.
October 6, 2004 Wednesday
All went well at the doctor's on Monday. They tentatively have mom scheduled
for the second procedure next week Wednesday. We're waiting for one of the
doctors to return from vacation to give the final "okay" on the procedure.
She's still suffering from some pain/nausea, but is at least able to eat
regularly and drink enough fluids to stay hydrated.
Phone calls would be welcome.
Ocotber 11, 2004 Monday
Mom goes in on Wednesday for the second procedure on her liver.
This time they will embolize the left lobe. They will still be going in through
the right leg vein.
Her uric acid levels are still elevated. This is normal with excessive tissue
death. Killing off the majority of the right lobe would count as excessive.
She is more tired lately. It was a major work-out for her to
hold puppies while I gave them shots this morning.
Her attending Nationals does not look good from where we are now. I will still
be going for the week of the show, but don't know if I can stay for the week of
the field trial.
October 14, 2004 Thursday
The procedure was a success again. The doctors say they killed off a cantaloupe sized chunk of liver. Mom will be staying in the hospital at least until Friday, possibly until Sunday.
October 19, 2004 Tuesday
This procedure went well. Mom is no worse than before she went in, so that's good. We should start seeing some improvement soon. The pain/fever have remained under control, and I think keeping her in the hospital for a couple of extra days was the key. She was discharged on Saturday afternoon. Phone calls are hit-or-miss, sometimes she's up for it, sometimes she's not.
October 24, 2004 Sunday
Mom is feeling much better today. She asked Dad to take her to visit Tina Church, and then Ginger came to give her Reiki, and Kim stopped with some quail. Yesterday she was up all day talking with puppy buyers. She is a little better each day.
November 4, 2004
Mom is getting better every day. She has a lot of strength to regain, but there is improvement.
Phone lines are open!
November 22, 2004
Mom went to UW for her follow-up CT today. Results were not good. While the
liver is holding it's own, the swelling in her abdomen that we thought was from
the embolization procedure is actually new carcinoid growths.
Dr. Mulkerin has ordered chemotherapy now. Since this type of carcinoid is the
even rarer type of carcinoid that grows quickly, there's a chance that the chemo
may work on it. He assured mom that he hasn't pulled out all the stops yet,
either. Unfortunately, since the bland embolization was unsuccessful, she is not
qualified for any of the clinical trials that are currently underway.
The real kicker is the cost of the chemo pills. She is on a two week course, to
the tune of $1100, with one week off, then repeat. That is added to her already
expensive anti-nausea, anti-anxiety, and anti-ulcer pills and the fentanyl
patches. It's absolutely insane that necessary medical treatments are priced
like a luxury item.
Anyways, obviously Mom didn't make it to Texas for the VCA
Nationals. Although she really wanted to go, there is no way she would have held
up over the two-day drive each way, plus all of the activity. It's too bad that
she missed all of the goings-on, and I know for a fact she missed out on the
best medium-rare rib-eye since mankind decided to eat cows ;-)
Amber was exceptionally naughty in the show ring (the fact that she basically
lived in a crate or on a 6-foot leash for the week did not help her behavior one
bit).
Gennie acted like a dork in the National Field Championship, but redeemed
herself in the National Amateur Field Championship by running like her normal
self, making to the second series where she reportedly ran phenomenally until
the very last second, where she decided she was too good to listen to commands,
once again proving that they call them bitches for a reason ;-)
Briggs was apparently amazing, but ran out of course at the end. I'm told he
followed a tree-line to the end of the course, then kept right on going towards
camp, and would have continued on if Gary hadn't called him back around.
Oh well. Gennie's retiring to one last attempt at motherhood
now, and Briggs (with Gary's handling) will wow the pants off 'em all next year.
November 29, 2004
Thanksgiving was good. The boys
were in charge of cooking. They did a good job.
Mom started chemo on Friday, and so far has had minimal side effects. She's on
capecitabine
(ka-pe-SITE-a-bean) tablets. She takes 4 in the morning, and 4 at night, for
2 weeks followed by one week off. The protocol is then repeated.
We are not pursuing alternative therapies at this time, as there are several
vitamins/herbs that will counter act or negatively react to the chemo drug. It's
not worth the risk right now.
December 15, 2004
The first round of chemo wasn't too bad. Not too many side effects, really. Mom felt nauseous, but she's been pukey for five months, so who knows for sure.
The good news is that the insurance has finally agreed to pay for the chemo. At $665 per week, this is a good thing. Apparently if she got the chemo I.V. it would have been covered 100% but since it was taken by capsules at home, they were trying to worm out of it. I hate insurance companies. Their job is to make money by not paying for expenses for as long as possible, if ever. They rank right up there with ticks in my book.
Now, if we can get them to cover the $4,976 per month Sandostatin shot that keeps her from scratching a limb off, we'll be in good shape. The constant scratching is just gross. Mom is covered in wounds from where she scratches in her sleep. I can't imagine what it would be like if this stuff wasn't knocking down some of the symptoms.
Last weekend she came to the field trial for about an hour. I had her friend Tina and my father bring her. She got so watch most or Brigg's brace in Open Puppy (she could see more from up on the hill than I could see on course on horseback), but was worn out for several days after that excursion. Briggs won, by the way. He is just an awesome little dog. Gary Jagoda (Briggs' trainer and handler) has done a great job with him. Hopefully their successes will continue through next year. It's helping my spirits if nothing else.
December 18, 2004
Yesterday was mom and dad's 38th wedding anniversary. Mom celebrated by taking a
pain pill and sleeping. Dad watched TV in the bedroom.
I finally got all of the medical bills and insurance payments
entered into an Excel database. There's over $125,000 in bills so far. It looks
like insurance is picking up all but approximately $20,000 at this point.
December 20, 2004 Monday
Mom got another two weeks worth of
capecitabine and some new drugs to try to stop the itching. The doctor felt
that part of her liver area was more pliable, but the right lobe was still hard.
They're trying another round to see what happens. She goes back in three weeks
for another check-up.
About 45 minutes after getting home, we got a phone call from the pharmacy. It
seems that now the prescription coverage has been exhausted. One step forward
and two back.
There is no justice.
December 28, 2004 Tuesday
Christmas went alright. Mary L. brought over a wonderful breakfast on Christmas Eve that we just had to pop into the oven the next morning and both of the boys came out for the day. Mom slept through most of it. She hasn't been getting much sleep at night because of the pain, but for some reason she can sleep alright during the day.
Mom's amaryllis was kind enough to bloom on Christmas morning
though! There's 7 more chutes waiting to bloom.
Our friend Rodney has called her almost every day to check up on
her, which is good. Some days she doesn't feel like talking (and will say so)
but for the most part she'll pick up the extension for a few minutes.
January 10, 2005
GOOD NEWS! Mom's liver functions are closer to normal and the liver is smaller. They're trying another round of chemo.
February 17, 2005
Today is mom's 60th birthday. She has beat the prognosis of the first two doctors by 2-6 months.
March 14, 2005
The news isn't so good today. Mom's been having pain in her leg for the last several days. She has a hairline fracture in her hip. They have scheduled an MRI for the 24th to see if the cancer has spread to her bones. There is a possibility that the fracture could be from stress caused by the sudden burst of activity this week after months of inactivity. We won't know anything more until then.
But, her liver panels were improved yet again, and she was feeling good enough to want to go do things, so go figure....
March 22, 2005
The MRI results are in...the fracture in the hip is cancer. It has also spread to one spot on her spine. They go back on Thursday to meet with doctors about radiation.
She will be back from the doctor's this afternoon. If people have messages for her, tomorrow would probably be the best time to call.
March 24, 2005
The bone scan was not good. There's 8-10 spots on her pelvis, and 1-2 each on her spine, left leg, and right hip. She will be starting radiation soon. UW is transferring the radiation orders to the local community hospital so we don't have so far to drive every day.
March 25, 2005
Radiation will begin at Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital on Monday at 9:30 am.
I know she's on prayer lists for every major religion (and a few not-so major religions, too). Just keep it up. She's not giving up on the war yet, even if she is losing most of the battles.
March 27, 2005
Briggs's trainer & handler, Gary Jagoda, suddenly died of a heart attack yesterday at a field trial. He had just handled Briggs to a blue ribbon, and was on course handling Cash.
Gary Jagoda March 15, 1949 - March 27, 2005
April 11, 2005
The radiation seems to be having minimal side effects. Mom goes back to Madison next week for some follow up visits.
We have
a new addition to the house... CH Sheas Uno Cookie Who (a smooth coated Parson
Russell Terrier) is here on long-term loan from Sharon Shea. Mom missed having a
dog she could hang out with on the couch without fear of injury, so Sharon
brought her the Cookie Monster. She's been an absolute riot to have around so
far. And she's little enough that she and mom can share the couch without
squishing each other.
Tina Church came this week and weeded the flower beds with mom's help. I have realized now why I always lived in places that didn't have a real yard. I hate yard work. I think there's better things to do than be a slave to growing & mowing grass and pulling weeds.
Sherman (Pete & Max puppy) came to visit for the weekend. It was fun, and a good refresher about how much work a 4 month old puppy can be. He is going to be a total knock out when he matures. He is one nice looking puppy.
Rodney Albin and Rob Tomczak each ran Briggs for me over the weekend at the field trial, too. That little dog needs to be handled by someone that can ride a horse and handle a dog all at the same time - and that someone isn't me!
Joe handled Nika in her final Derby run of her career (she turned two on Sunday). He said he enjoyed it and would do it again. Little does he know that he's going to be in charge of handling the Gennie/Cowboy puppy I'm keeping!
July 19, 2005
There hasn't
been much positive change. Mom's had several rounds of radiation in an attempt
to slow/stop the cancer that has spread to her bones. Of course, that only works
on the spots they are actively treating.
The insurance has about run out, so she is at the point of having to make
decisions about treatments.
July 28, 2005
Wanda is in liver failure. The doctors have not given a time-frame, but it won't be very long. The medical bills are about to increase and the insurance is only paying a vary small portion of the expenses. There is less than a month's worth of expenses left in savings. People who have insurance coverage through an employer have no idea what it is like to be self-employed and paying $1500 per month for a policy that doesn't cover much of anything.
They have reached the point of asking for help.
August 1, 2005
Thank you to everyone with your donations. We have started an account for the medical expenses.
August 4, 2005
We're starting home hospice care tomorrow. The Visiting Nurse Association is going to do the consult at the house, and we'll work out the care from that point.
August 6, 2005
Wanda lost her battle with cancer at 10:00 am. It was peaceful, and she was comfortable at home. While we are missing her, it is a relief that she is no longer suffering.
The VNA & UW-Madison have been wonderful. They provided fantastic care, and answered all of our questions, no matter what time it was, without making us feel like we were inconveniencing them or wasting their time. Unlike the Pro-Health Care affiliated doctors and clinics.
August 13, 2005
The celebration of Wanda's life will be held at the Ottawa Field Trial Grounds in Eagle Wisconsin on Saturday August 27th after the conclusion of the Hunt Test.
The entire family would like to thank everyone for their generous donations to the Wanda Berner Cancer Fund. My family is amazed at the support, kindness, and generosity of the Vizsla enthusiasts, and would especially like to thank Mary Lamb and Julia Bonar for getting the ball rolling, and also to Lynn Shepherd, Cindi Chilbert, and Mary Clark for just "being there" for mom. My father and I have decided that if there is money left over after mom's medical expenses are paid, we will start a fund similar to the Take The Lead Foundation, but for performance fanciers.
The entire family is at peace with mom's passing, and while we miss her, we are also relieved that she is no longer suffering.
August 25, 2005
Mom's friend Peter Smitka (Inventor of the PortaBall telescope)
wrote the following tribute:
"I'm sad to report that my friend, sometimes observing partner, and the real impetus to the PortaBall, Wanda Berner, succumbed to liver cancer earlier this month. Wanda whose picture can be found on Mag 1 web site, was the first PortaBall owner. As a then very active member of the Milwaukee Astronomical Society, she acquired a 12.5” mirror from another member, then asked me to build a scope for her. I told her I had an unusual design in mind, and after showing her some pictures of a sphere based telescope, I suggested I would do so for her if she would share in the cost of materials for what I anticipated would be two iterations – hers and one for me – and she agreed. I arranged to have three spheres made thinking one might find its way to the scrap heap. Wanda’s husband, Tom, pitched in by having the first mirror cell flotation triangles machined and helped me with casting the first counterweights out of wheel weights using his plumber’s gas burner. I delivered Wanda’s scope to her at the 1990 AstroFest where it was widely admired. Wanda very quickly completed her Messier certificate and continued on to become a very proficient visual observer, which she found liberating after wrestling with an 8” SCT and dabbling in astrophotography. Wanda was always very willing to share her new plaything with other members of the Milwaukee Astronomical Society and with the public. Later in life Wanda discovered another passion, raising and training a breed of dogs called Vizslas, which were entered in type of competitive retrieving games conducted on horseback. As was typical for her, Wanda was a champ, and even turned her new passion into a successful breeding business. She often took her scope with her during her travels in that activity.
So thank you, Wanda for starting me one this part of my life’s path. May you find peace amongst the stars.
Pete Smitka "
September 1, 2005
To everyone who has donated to the Wanda Berner Cancer Fund, my entire family extends their heart-felt thanks.
The memorial service for Wanda was held at the Ottawa field trial grounds. There were over 150 guests in attendance to celebrate Wanda's life. Friends from grammar school, the antique wooden boat club, Milwaukee Astronomical Society, and of course, the Vizsla community gathered for dinner, drinks, and story-swapping.
The event began with a short prayer from Robert Tomczak, Catherine Sheridan-Hanlon lent her voice, Jim Busch gave the eulogy, and Robert closed with another prayer. Without the help of Scott & Dawn Berner, Jamie & Dana Berner, Mary Lamb, Lynn Filiatrault, Cindi Chilbert, "grandma" Bandkowski, Shari & Jim Bandkowski, the Central Wisconsin Vizsla Club, the Vizsla Club of Illinois, Rodney & Anne Albin, Pam & Mark Spurgeon, and many others, we never could have pulled this event off.
Many people in attendance commented on the varied different interests that Wanda had. Before becoming actively involved in Vizslas, both Tom & Wanda were very active in the various antique boat clubs (they restored several Lyman and Century wooden boats similar to Chris Crafts) and the MAS. They made some very good friends along the way.
The Vizsla Club of Illinois did a nice cover article of mom
www.vizslaclubofillinois.org/bulletin/htm
December 27, 2005
My father died of a heart attack yesterday morning. We found him dead when we returned from the emergency vet.
Thomas J Berner October 9, 1945 - December 26, 2005
