Beverly's progress
We have been very busy and distracted here at Cornerstone since we learned of my mom's illness. Please forgive us for the lack of attention paid to the website but unfortunately somethings had to wait and the site was low priority of all the things that had to be done here at the shop. We got through Shop Hop with a Bang.. What a Blast! We also enjoyed seeing all of the visitors during the North Wind Quilters Guild Quilt Show which Beverly did get to attend as a vendor.
For those of you who were not aware of the latest news here at Cornerstone Quilt Shoppe I would like to take this opportunity to inform all of you that my mom, Beverly has been diagnosed with Kidney Cancer. Wednesday April 1, 2009 she will be admitted into the hospital to have the kidney removed. We are very optimistic that the cancer is contained within the kidney and that Bev will be back to work very soon. We are so grateful to all of you that have been by with your well wishes, prayers, gifts and food. Your love and support has been overwhelming, Thanks again.
I have received several calls about where to send flowers to Bev. My mom has asked that if you are wanting to send flowers she would rather you make a small donation in her name to our Relay For Life Team that has been helping in the fight against cancer for 3 years now. We have worked hard over the past few years to raise money to help The American Cancer Society find a cure and end cancer once and for all. Now we may need some of the programs and services that the American Cancer Society offers to get Bev through this battle.
I will try very hard to maintain this web site especially this page so that all of you can stay informed of Bev's progress. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
We have been very fortunate to welcome some new members to the Cornerstone Quilt Shoppe family so don't be alarmed to see some new faces here while Bev is gone. Please welcome: Kimberly, Lois, Laura, Theresa, Cheri and my Aunt Margaret. Also helping us during this time will be Diane Salera and our 2 fabulous volunteers Joyce and Josette. The girls will take good care of you just as mom and I do. Thanks for your patience and understanding. Sincerely, Dawn Schwab (Bev's daughter)
Wednesdy April 1, 2009:
HI everyone, I'm glad to report that mom did great today..The surgery went well and the doctors are pretty sure that the cancer was contained within the kidney and that it has not spread outside the organ. We were able to visit mom a couple of times today and she is doing GREAT! there were some concerns earlier today regarding her bloodloss during surgery and the possibility of her needing a transfusion but her tests taken this evening showed that Bev's levels are coming up just fine on her own so no blood is needed afterall. Thanks to everyone for the prayers...... they worked!! I'll keep you posted as much as possible. Dawn
Friday April 3, 2009:
Today was a pretty good day for Bev. She is in a bit of pain still but she was pretty ill all day yesterday so she opted not to have any pain meds today for fear they would make her sick. She's a tough cookie when she wants to be. She was able to leave ICU today and she is now in a regular room. She has been out of bed several times over the last 36 hours and got to eat lunch and dinner today. Her color is back and she was awake long enough for me to read all of the day's notes from all of you who stopped by to write to her in her notebook. Tomorrow should be a good day we have some family coming to see her and she is looking forward to spending the day with my brother and her brother. Thanks again to all of you who have stopped by and called we make a note of every call and visitor and give her a full report every evening. Several of you are asking how I am doing. All of your concern is well appreciated and having all of you as a support system has made this so much easier to deal with for me, my Aunt Margaret, and our staff. Thanks again. Until tomorrow, Dawn :o)
Saturday April 4, 2009:
We had another good day today. Bev was out of bed when I got to her room today. She is looking better and better each day. We were greeted with great news this morning. Bev is coming home tomorrow. The doctor is very pleased with her progress and says she can come home. We spent most of the day getting things ready for her to come home. We are so happy to see her getting back to herself. She is doing great with her pain management as well. She has had great care from some wonderful Doctors and Nurses that checked up on mom daily, We really do have some very good friends that work for Northbay. Thanks to all of you. Thanks especially to Elizabeth King from Colorado. She took very good care of mom (and us). She was so helpful and explained everything that was going on as well as the machines mom was hooked up to in the ICU. This has actually been a pretty good experience all things considered. Although, Bev may care to object. HaHa. Can't wait until tomorrow to tell you about Bev's journey home. Until then, Dawn
Monday April 6, 2009:
Hello to everyone and thanks for keeping up with us. I really am having fun updating mom's page and hearing from those of you who have been checking in daily. I have Wonderful news for you folks today. Beverly ws released from the hospitol yesterday and is resting comfortably at home in her own bed. She was so glad to be home and surrounded by family yesterday. I read to her all of the notes people left in her notebook from the weekend and gave her the quilt which was finished sunday afternoon by some dedicated binding helpers. Thanks again to Theresa for putting the quilt together; much thanks to my Aunt Margaret for putting on the borders, making backing, and custom quilting the quilt wich turned out to be pretty big. Also thanks to Laura for helping to make the binding and to my sunday volunteers to help get the binding on the quilt; thanks Kimberly, Jennifer, Patti, Marci, and Linda. And thanks to Carolyn for moral support.lol.
You will all be glad to know that Bev loved her quilt, cried when she saw it. It really meant alot to her that all of you cared enough to take the time to put your blocks together for her. And I appreciate it also. We have been so overwhelmed by the displays of love and sincere concern for my mother, and me. Thanks for all you have done and all that you are offering to do to help us during this time. Nothing goes unappreciated I just may forget to actually thank each and every one of you. So again, Thank You, Dawn
Wednesday April 8, 2009:
Hello to all of my faithful readers. I have nothing bu the most excellent news about Bev. We went to the doctor today and she got her staples out. The doctors are just so pleased with her progress. She even came to the quilt shoppe for a while and got to visit with a couple of customers that stopped by and popped in on the girls at the Solano Land Trust Office; our super awesome neighbors. Again thanks to all of you for your prayers; Anybody who doesn't believe in the power of prayer, well, God help them. We believe and were blessed with so many people and their churches praying for Bev. And all prayers were answered. We are doing great. Bev got a big hug from her Urologist today and we don't have to go back to see him for 6 weeks. We are still waiting for the Pathology report for a totally clean bill of health, meaning no cancer was found outside of the kidney so don't stop the prayers yet.. Talk to you soon.....Dawn
Monday May 4, 2009:
Who knew I was a blogger? I sure didn't. I've been receiving phone calls from people wanting to know when I'm going to update my blog. Blog? I said. What's a blog? Apparently Beverly's page is a blog. Got one on me, i had no clue. I am not a blogger, don't want to be a blogger, don't have time to blog.
So, to update this page about my mom, I'd like everybody to know that Beverly is doing FABULOUS!!! Friday May 1st was Bev's birthday. We had a great time here at open sew celebrating her very special birthday. Thanks again to Sandy Goetz for the amazing, beautiful Birthday Cake.
We are so thrilled with mom's progress after surgery. She amazes us on a daily basis. We also got her pathology reports back and everything looks clear. Probably no treatments needed. We really know how fortunate we are to have this kind of outcome, especially considering how long mom actually had the cancer. We are very grateful for all of the support and prayers that went out to my mom. Thanks to all of you