Rest in Peace

It is with great sadness as we write to tell you that Cathy passed away peacefully early in the morning on Tuesday, June 19th. She fought hard and long accepting each new challenge in her resolute manner without ever a complaint.

Cathy will be cremated according to her wish. There will be no funeral service but a memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 30th. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests either a contribution in memory of Cathryn Nevin to United Hospice of Rockland, www.hospiceofrockland.org or to a college fund for Carrigan. If you choose to contribute to Carrigan's college fund, we suggest that you write the check to Kyle Nevin identifying it for the college fund.

We all felt the love of family and friends during this difficult year and know you will all cherish your memories of her as we will certainly do.

The Journey begins

We would like to thank everyone for all your good wishes, kind offers of help, and supportIve messages. Cathy is very much at peace with her decision to discontinue treatment and is now under the care of hospice. They have been incredibly helpful and are making Cathy as comfortable as possible as she begins this journey.

Many of you have already sent gifts for which we are very thankful or you have asked what the family and Cathy's wishes might be. Cathy has said she really appreciates the hospice people and that they are great. Donations can be sent in the name of Cathryn Nevin to United Hospice of Rockland, 11 Stokum Lane, New City, NY 10956 or go to www.hospiceofrockland.org. Another option is a donation to Carrigan's education fund.

We ask for your continued prayers and good thoughts for a peaceful passing for Cathy.

Peace

We at Team Cathy would like to thank everybody for all of the thoughts, prayers, cards, well wishes and help you have offered Cathy as she has battled cancer for over a year now. You have helped make a difficult journey more tolerable. It is with great sadness that we tell you that Cathy has now entered Hospice Care. After much thought, consultations with doctors and discussions, Cathy and our team have decided that we are no longer going to pursue any treatment options and are instead focusing on keeping Cathy comfortable. The disease has rendered Cathy to a quality of life that is not fair to her or anyone. It is the opinion of her doctor and us that any more treatments will only delay the inevitable, cause an enormous amount of pain for Cathy, and actually make her final days much worse. Instead we have decided to let her choose how she wants to spend her final days, which is in her own bed with her family close to her.

Cathy battled courageously, in her quiet, dignified way, cracking jokes and smiling often despite her situation. Her oncologist and nurses were brought to tears, which is not easy when you work in oncology and become used to losing patients, but Cathy is that type of person - charming every one whose life she touches.

Home

There was great joy seeing Cathy come in the door - especially from Carrigan. She was discharged on Friday after receiving two courses of radiation therapy. She will now continue at Phelps Memorial as an outpatient for the remainder sessions. Thank you all for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers.

Radiation to start

Cathy will be starting radiation therapy ASAP! Originally the plan was to do radiation as an outpatient at Phelps Memorial where she goes for chemo. However, her pain management has been a major issue while she has been an inpatient at MSK. Fortunately, she is in the hands of the doctors and nurses at MSK where she is receiving excellent care. So, care in the hospital, pain management and radiation is the current plan of action. The doctors are optimistic that the radiation can be very effective for Cathy.

Carrigan is handling all of this like her mother - like a champ. She tucks her Abby Cadabby doll into mommy’s bed every night to keep it warm for her and writes her notes daily.

Please continue to keep Cathy in your thoughts and prayers through this most challenging time.

Stumbling blocks

It’s been a real roller coaster ride recently as Cathy has run into some stumbling blocks. She has had issues with bladder/kidney, low blood count, and pain. Cathy has tackled each challenge in her quiet, resolute way. Her list of specialists now include a urologist, nephrologist, hematologist, and radiologist. The plan by the radiologist is to target the area near her bladder to relieve tumor burden which may be giving her the pain. The plan is for treatment five times a week for three weeks. The catch-22 is that while she receives radiation, she cannot be on Oxaliplatin.

One of the ‘numbers’ monitored while receiving chemo is hemoglobin count. Up until this past week-end, Cathy’s numbers were in an acceptable range. However, this Sunday she had to have a blood transfusion in the hospital. The transfusion went well and she’s feeling tired but better. While in the hospital her pain is being addressed with a pain pump that she controls and she is finally getting some much needed sleep. Next step is we are hopeful the radiation treatment can be started shortly.

Thanks for all your support as you continue to keep us all in your prayers and good thoughts.

Change in chemo

Although Cathy’s last scan showed stabillity, her oncologist was looking for some improvement. Since the Irinotecan (latest chemo drug) was causing more side effects (such as nausea, hair loss), the decision was made to revert back to Oxaliplatin (earlier chemo drug) which gave improvement with less severe side effects while Cathy was on it. We’re hopeful the oxali works as before.