Emily's Entourage

Hello, this is Sara, Emily’s sister.  I wanted to write a post to give an update on Emily.  On September 5^th Emily and our parents went to their weekly appointment with Dr. Sara.  After an examination Dr. Sara determined that her liver has in fact grown due to the spread of the disease and determined that continuing treatment will not provide any further benefit.  At this stage the focus changes to managing Emily’s symptoms and keeping her as comfortable as possible.  Although we have known that this was coming, it is still extremely difficult to accept.

The following week Dr. Sara advised that we engage hospice care; in fact his staff had already made initial contact for Emily.  The hospice focus is to provide resources and support through progressive illness.  Emily has been assigned a social worker, a spiritual advisor, and a nurse that visits our home, as Emily is now staying with our parents full time.  She has been provided various medications to help manage her symptoms and the hospice care can also provide other items, such as a hospital bed, should that become necessary.

As for Emily’s current condition she has good days and bad days.  Emily has become very weak and sleeps about 14 hours a day, including naps.  She has persistent nausea which is very unpleasant.  From time to time she experiences abdominal pain.  Emily continues to still maintain good spirits despite her situation and we enjoy flashes of her good humor.

From the day of Emily’s diagnosis almost four years ago she has benefited from the tremendous support and love of her family, friends, and acquaintances.  It has been gratifying to see all of the calls, messages, and visits from her many friends.  Some days she has had great visits with friends accompanied by sharing memories and laughter and other days she has regretfully had to cancel or postpone planned visits.  This has shown that Emily’s Entourage is more than just a name. I have attached a picture of Emily with her friends Katie and Louise enjoying the park last Sunday.

Emily has been touched by the outreach from everybody near and far and truly appreciates every single one, even if she is unable to respond to them all.

Thank you for your support and prayers.  I will update again soon.