Chris comes home....

Dear Friends & Family,

Right now I am sitting at the bedside of my beautiful wife as I type this. As you know she has been in the hospital for 1 week after being admitted on Labor Day. It has been a very stressful and hectic week trying to shuffle work, school, and everything else in between. I could not have made it this far without the help of my family and some very special neighbors.

The liver tumors that Chris has been battling for 3 long years have finally found a way to defeat all of the chemo and procedures that we’ve thrown at them. The latest CT scan showed a significant progression of the disease in her liver. The team of Doctors here at Johns Hopkins have consulted and week informed us that there is nothing else that can be done to help prevent the cancer. Chris’ liver is beginning to shut down and very soon she will succumb to effects of her disease.

It has taken me awhile to sit down and send out this notice to everyone because we had to ensure that our boys and Alex, along with all of our family were told first. Chris wanted to make sure that we told them ourselves. Tyler and Michael came in on Friday and Alex came in on Saturday. Chris and I both spoke with them and told them the news and then told them what needs to be done as we go forward in our lives without her. They are strong children, but at the same time love and adore their mother very much. The news was quite hard on them.

Currently Chris is very tired and has a hard time staying awake. She has been on oral pain medication for about 4 days now and that has made it much easier for her to sleep. She can sit up but cannot move very far at all without assistance. She is comfortable and that is what is important at this point.

Today the Frederick Hospice is coming to deliver some equipment to our house (bed, table, oxygen). We are leaving the hospital sometime today in an ambulance transport and bringing Chris home. The Hospice will then take over her care at that point. We think that it is very important for her to be home during her final days so that both she and I can be with friends and family during this time.

I have had many wonderful offers of love and support during the last week. In fact, that same love and support has been coming for 3 long years. September 18^th, 2004 was the day that Chris and I were given this horrible news and from that day forward we have been blessed with all the love and care that we could ever need. This is an incredibly difficult time for me and I promise that I will lean on you for help and guidance. We could not have made it this far without your help and I’m sure that I’ll need your help just as much in the coming days, months, and years to come.

Please keep my family in your prayers, and ask God to watch over us and guide us in the right direction.

God bless all of us!

Charlie
Frederick, MD
charliedewitt@comcast.net
http://chris-dewitt-updates.blogspot.com/
240-285-7251 cell phone