Lauren Maher lost her battle
Tim Maher
Hi Everyone,
I’m not sure who still follows this group, or who is still alive when I joined in August of 2009, but unfortunately my wife, Lauren, lost her battle with LMS on April 6, 2014. She fought courageously despite multiple bone and lung metastasis. Ultimately too many mets to the lungs caused her to be very short of breath and limited her mobility. As recently as January 1, 2014 she hiked a half mile down and up the Grand Canyon. We were hoping for at least a few more good months, but it was not to be.
Thanks for all of the support and information over the years.
Take care,
Tim Maher
Marian
Sent from my iPhone
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Paula Zmuda
Maribeth Rizzi
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Roger Huckfeldt
Tim Maher <tcm...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Holly Starks
LaVon S. Esswein
For a loss like yours there are no appropriate words.
Thank you for sharing Lauren's LMS battle & your time with us.
My hopes, prayers & thoughts are with you & your family. May you all find a way through this time of loss & grief and find a path to joy & celebration.
Yours, LaVon
On Apr 16, 2014, at 10:54 PM, Holly Starks <starks...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Tim Maher
To all who have responded,
Thank you for your kind words and support.
Hi Paula,
Lauren had made it two years with clean scans when her LMS returned with several bone mets. We never kept a concise list of mets and treatments. The worst was in her humerus bone (shoulder) that required a large part of that bone and the knob at the top to be cut off and removed. A metal rod was inserted in its place so she did not have her arm amputated, but her shoulder mobility was limited. There were also three mets to her spine and couple more in other places that were successfully treated with Cyberknife. The next scans showed some small mets to the lungs. We were never quite sure how many, but they eventually took over in a back and forth battle.
Lauren did at least one trial drug – Inno 206, which has a different name now, that initially shrunk the tumors before they grew back over the months that she was using it. She was doing a daily votrient pill and Gemzar infusion every four weeks for the past several months. Everything seems to help a little at the beginning and then the cancer seems to re-charge itself and grow worse.
Besides her oncologist, Dr. Chawla (in Santa Monica), both her surgeon in Los Angeles, a renowned cancer specialist named Dr. Earl Brien, and her radiologist, Dr. Steve Damore, were surprised she did as well as she did for nearly two years. Life expectancy at stage IV with her level of bone mets is 6-9 months.
My advice is to always ask questions of the doctors and staff treating you. I would usually write a list so I wouldn’t forget what I wanted to ask. Remember, they have a lot of patients and they also don’t see you for more than a few hours a month. You and your support at home know what you go through all day, every day and you need to be diligent about what is happening.
Good luck and Take care,
Tim
From: nl...@googlegroups.com [mailto:nl...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Paula Zmuda
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 2:55 PM
To: nl...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [NLMSF] Lauren Maher lost her battle
Hi, Tim,
I am so saddened to hear Lauren lost the battle with LMS. I have taken courage from her courage as you have shared with us how she was fighting, and where, and so on.
Thank you for having the courage to let us know about Lauren. I pray for you both during this difficult time.
I am wondering if you two kept a list of the tumors, metastases, sizes, and treatments received for each new occurrence? The reason I ask is I am curious how doctors who treat sarcoma, and specifically LMS, decide what avenue of treatment to follow; be it surgery, radiation or chemo. I am never certain that my doctor decides the right thing.
Thank you, Tim, for sharing with me over the years. Doing so brought me comfort.
Wishing you well,
Paula
ULMS 2009
From: Tim Maher <tcm...@hotmail.com>
To: nl...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 3:00 PM
Subject: [NLMSF] Lauren Maher lost her battle
Hi Everyone,
I’m not sure who still follows this group, or who is still alive when I joined in August of 2009, but unfortunately my wife, Lauren, lost her battle with LMS on April 6, 2014. She fought courageously despite multiple bone and lung metastasis. Ultimately too many mets to the lungs caused her to be very short of breath and limited her mobility. As recently as January 1, 2014 she hiked a half mile down and up the Grand Canyon. We were hoping for at least a few more good months, but it was not to be.
Thanks for all of the support and information over the years.
Take care,
Tim Maher
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