Farewell to Judy

Dearest friends around the world,

This morning at 7:50, Judy finished the valiant fight that she had fought for the past two years. I was at her side—holding her hand and telling her how much I loved her and thanking her for everything she had brought into my life—when her breathing became lighter and lighter and she finally slipped away. The sun had just risen over the horizon and touched the room.

Judy's last few days in the hospital had been filled with her fiercely fighting the cancer. It was not a pretty battle, and I don't intend to belabor the issue. Those of you who saw her in those last few days know how hard she fought, how much resistance she put up, how exhausted she must have been. The nurses kept telling me that they could not believe her strength, physically and spiritually. Well, those of you who had the great fortune to know her and be touched by her know what a tough little package she was.

When Dr. Phillips told me about her failing kidneys and liver on Tuesday afternoon, it became clear that nothing was going to stop the inevitable, and it was easy to decide to not try to prolong her agony but make her as comfortable as possible. Nevertheless, her tremors and fight continued as never was a quitter.

On my request, Tuesday night our friend Andy Y. offered Judy and about 15 of our closest friends communion, something that I felt was important for Judy at this final juncture of her life. Even though she could no longer speak, all of us saw how much comfort she drew from this act. All of us witnessed how she accepted that the fight was over. The speed of her final path seems to be testimony that with that acceptance came a way for her to let go and leave us.

Judy was always worried about others, and she was worried about how I would fare. Well, I don't know about the future, but today I was OK. I did not feel the haze and helplessness that I experienced when we were given the first diagnosis of cancer two years ago. Her final ten hours with us gave me closure, too, and even though I shed hard, hard tears in our last private moments in the same room this morning, I felt surprisingly at peace with everything that had happened.

I would like to ask all those of you who have traveled with us on this long journey to do something for yourselves and for all of us—and many of you may believe for Judy as well: Would you please share how Judy affected you and your life through who she was? We will be having a Celebration of Her Life this Saturday, October 2, at 12:00 noon in Chas. A Guy park (87th Street and Memphis Avenue) here in Lubbock, and we would like to share your comments with all of our friends who we hope will show up. Please send your comments to Liza who has graciously taken over the task of compiling it all. Her e-mail is l.muse@sbcglobal.net. Please send whatever fits into an e-mail!

We will have a memorial service at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday morning at Judy's church, St. Paul's on the Plains Episcopal, 1510 Ave. X. With the celebration at noon everybody should be able to slip into attire fitting for the kind of get-together that our archetypal party-lady Judy would have been at the forefront of organizing. There will be food, and there will be neutral plastic cups if you'd like to bring your own beverage. Bring your kids, because Judy loved them as you know.

And finally, since so many of our friends have already asked: Please do not send any flowers. Judy enjoyed them, but she enjoyed even more feeding the homeless on Thursday mornings at her church. So, if you would like to support that ongoing effort (and I know they were always short on funds), please feel free to direct any donations in her memory to St. Paul's Neighbor-to-Neighbor Ministry, c/o St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 1510 Avenue X, Lubbock, TX 79401.

Dear friends, I hope you will be able to join us on Saturday. Nothing would make me more happy than to share my sorrow and my joy, my tears and my laughter with you at both the service and our celebration of the one that we all loved: my beloved friend, partner, buddy, and wife, JuJu.

In love,

Jürgen

Judy continues her hospital stay

I wish I could give you better news, but that's unfortunately not the case. Judy remains hospitalized, and her current condition is worrisome. Late last week, Judy started to become confused and anxious, and the truth of the matter right now is that she doesn't respond very well. She sleeps very lightly for a few minutes at a time, then wakes up and looks around for a few seconds, and then sleeps again. Only occasionally does she respond to verbal stimuli. She says a few words, but not much makes sense. She is having a tough time with severe leg cramping that sets in when she gets agitated. A CT scan of the brain has not shown any abnormalities or any spreading of the cancer, so we have to assume that this is an aftereffect of some of the massive drugs that she was given last week.

Whether it was my coming back to her last night from Augusta or whether it is a natural improvement, last night was Judy's best in several. She was much calmer and less agitated than before. One of us has to be constantly at her side to prevent her from removing her tubes or getting out of bed. Lorane and I took shifts last night staying with her.

I have talked to Dr. Phillips and Dr. Howell, and both hope that Judy will make a turn for the better in the next few days. I am very worried. Actually, I am devastated by how fast things went so far south. Right now, all I can do is support her and hope that she will pull through. She is still fighting, and as long as she is, so will I.

I will try to update when we see new developments.

Jürgen

Friday morning update

Just briefly: Judy spent a better night than the past few, and it appears as if the antibiotics are finally starting to kick in as her fever seems to be much, much better. Dr. Phillips is putting her some other pain meds that we hope will avoid some of her tremors and other side effects. Candice is with her right now. Things are looking a bit better than they have over the past few days.

Time for an update

Apologies, but the past 2 1/2 days since coming back from Syracuse have been unpleasant and not conducive to updating the blog. I've been scrambling for good news. Here it is:



That's the beautiful birthday "cake" that our dear Martha cooked up for Judy. Isn't it pretty? Even now, close to a week after her b'day, the flowers are in the best shape.

Otherwise, there isn't much good stuff to report. Judy has been hit big and hard: A blood infection; what appears to be a urinary tract infection; and what we hope is c. difficile, a rather nasty bacterial infection that is treatable, while its impostor is worse news. Our hopes lie with Alan's black magic as far as cooking up the most effective antibiotics cocktails is concerned.

Judy is having a rough go at it. Ever the fighter, she cons the nurses (hell, even Alan!) into allowing her to indulge in a tiny piece of Popsicle. You should see the glee in her eyes and the pleasure on her face when she sucks on that precious little bit of taste.

I hope to see Dr. Phillips in the morning and get a better idea of where we stand. For those of you who like to press your thumbs (as most Germans do in a situation like this), this is a good time to exercise your digits; if you put more credence into the power of prayer, Judy will know that you are with her; and if you subscribe to neither, well, think about how nice it will be when she comes home and resumes spreading love and more love by being the JudyAustin we all know.

Jürgen



Here This was the beautiful birthday

No way to spend your 55th birthday

Well, folks, instead of bringing you hoped-for happy news I have to tell you that Judy had to check herself in to Covenant once again tonight. On the eve of her 55th birthday, Dr. Phillips decided that her continuing abdominal cramps and vomiting indicate another partial obstruction of the bowel, and that means back to the hospital. I had left yesterday for Syracuse, and Judy was supposed to be in Palo Duro tomorrow for the TMBRA race—alas, Amarillo got hit big time by remnants of whatver the last hurricane was called, and the race was canceled. And now she's at Covenant, back on the 5th floor. Damn!

I just got off the phone with Alan, who will look in on her tonight in his capacity as attending ID physician. If it weren't for having him (and Martha) as close friends as well as professional sounding boards, I don't know how my head would be able to handle all this.

Once I know more about the expected treatment, etc. I'll post more info. In the meantime, Happy Birthday to my dear Judy tomorrow!

Jürgen

Slowly and, we hope, surely ...

Well, I'd be lying if I were to say that it was a great week. After getting home Monday evening and a wonderful reunion with Judy, things took another turn for the worse when cramps and nausea made Judy's life damn miserable on Tuesday and Wednesday. She said that the pain was as bad as any since coming back from the hospital, and all I could do was just be there. We have no idea what was/still is wrong. On Wednesday she had an X-ray taken and blood work done: nada. Thankfully, Thursday the tide turned and she started to feel better, and today there were just occasional cramps and no vomiting. You need to understand that she didn't eat anything for the better part of a week, and I am worried about that, obviously. Coaxing her into trying a bite of water melon or the like is just not much fun when you know it's going to be brought back up in a retching fit of nausea.

This cancer thing is just not much fun anymore, and I think it is time to quit. I think, Judy concurs.

As you can see from the pic, times have changed a tiny bit. Today (Friday) Judy felt the best since I've come back from Canada. Susan and the girls came by, and the giggles were big during the Popsicle session. Later, Judy and I went to the mall and bought a few blouses and some pants for Judy to wear at work, reflecting the new physical realities. We walked back after Susan had dropped us off at Dillards. Judy was pleasantly tuckered afterward.

That's where we are right now. Let's hope that things continue to look up.

Jürgen

Many improvements, and I'm going home!

Usually I don't post photos of myself on Judy's blog, but tonight is different: I just finished my longest officiating stint ever—one week at the Windham World Cup, one week at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Quebec (in the photo I am controlling the tech/feed zone in the cross-country while an Austrian rider comes through and a Russian soigneur waits for her rider), two weeks total—and I am ready to go home to see my sweet wife! I've been in twice- or thrice-daily contact with Judy via Skype, and it seems as if she's on the right trajectory after this menses horribilis that we've lived through.

I am going to leave Mont Sainte-Anne with a 5:45 a.m. shuttle and will board my first flight (of three) at Quebec City shortly after 9 a.m. Man, I'm ready. Two weeks of non-stop cycling competition do have an effect. I can't imagine doing three weeks at the Tour de France, either as a commissaire or a Doping Control Officer. You may think it's all glorious, but there's a lot of grunt work, too. But, then just think: Judy did five weeks in the hospital!

So, let's hope that things will be happy for the days to come (which is not to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy the experience of the past two weeks—but the circumstance could have been better, obviously).

Here's to the future!

Problems still linger

Here's a quick update on Judy, written while I am at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec: After two great days at home Judy started having cramps (and diarrhea) during the weekend, and things aren't all cleared up yet. Alan did some lab work on her and is treating her with antibiotics, and he is hopeful that this will take care of it. It seems to be an endless roller coaster, but Judy is tough and hanging in there. Even though I obviously find everything here at the race extremely interesting and educational in my development as a commissaire, I am counting the days when I am finally back in Lubbock next Monday.

So long,

Jürgen