Celebration of Life Service

A Celebration of Life for Kyla will be held at the First Christian Church, 1166 Oak Street in Eugene on Saturday, August 19, 2006 at 6:00 p.m. Inurnment will follow at a later date at Springfield Memorial Gardens.

Driving Directions: Oak St. is a one-way street headed North. It is bordered by Pearl St. to the East (a one-way street headed South), and Willamette St. to the West (a two-way street). First Christian Church is just off the corner of 12th and Oak. The parking lot is behind the church, accessible from Willamette St. If you are headed to Eugene from the I-5 freeway, you can take the I-105 exit. Follow I-105 West until it ends, and turns into Jefferson St. Jefferson St. heads South, and you can then turn left onto 13th Ave, heading East. Follow 13th until Oak St -- turn left on Oak, and the Church will be on your left after 1 block.

Below is Kyla's obituary. If you click on the image it will be come large enough to read.

Goodbye To Our Lovely Kyla

Kyla passed away at 3:10 pm today.

All of us (Brian, Jill, Kelli, Wade, Charo, Dave and I) were with her. She did not suffer and went very peacefully just as we prayed. We were so very blessed to have her for as long as we did and to take care of her until the end. God blessed her with so many wonderful people that cared about her and we wish to thank everyone who expressed that to her and to us. All of the donations, cards, and phone calls are so very much appreciated. We have been surrounded by love all the way through this process. I will let everyone know the date, time and place for the celebration of life as soon as we find out more details. We are hoping for this next Saturday.

The day before Kyla passed away I sent Jill and Kelli to buy a pair of pajamas for Kyla that she could be wearing at the end. They did a beautiful job and came back with pale pink silk pajamas and a surprise for me. They could not resist. They bought three pairs of gnome pajamas, one for each of them and one for me. So last night they made me put on mine and Dave took a picture of us. Silly girls. I know this is something that Kyla was laughing at...my dislike for gnomes was a great source of entertainment for her as well as her siblings. I want to also note that Jill and Kelli took the time to put matching polish on Kyla's toes and their own the evening prior to her death. One last thing to do together. Such love.

Today

Kyla is sleeping all the time now and after talking with Hospice we have her tremors which turned out to be small seizures under control. Hospice could not send anyone out when I requested it because they are short staffed so I worked with the nurse on phone duty. She was very helpful but I could really use some support to know about time and things. A woman in contact with us was kind enough to direct me to a web site that she had made up for end of life and what to expect for brain tumor patients. After taking care of her father she felt this was something that was needed. Indeed it did help me tremendously as the nurse from hospice had never gone over these things with me.

I also talked with my mom who has taken care of many dying patients and she was able to walk me through some things to expect as well. She was probably the most helpful of all to me both medically and emotionally. Thank you mom! I love you tremendously.

Jill and Kelli spent last night and are spending tonight with us and we are taking turns staying in the room with Kyla since we know that the time is near. Her breathing is very ragged and slowing somewhat. Dave moved an easy chair in her room for us to sit in. I could not bear it if she was alone.

Update

We are seeing a very rapid decline. Kyla did not respond to much at all today. Yesterday she slept most of the day but was able to rouse enough to eat dinner herself at the table with very little help from me. I had to feed her breakfast and lunch but she was awake and able to eat although had difficulty moving food to the back of her throat. When I checked her at 2:00 am, she had a very bad headache but was unable to answer me when I asked her about her pain....just nodded. I gave her the pain meds and she seemed to be able to rest after that. Her eyes were open this morning for her bath but she does not have any muscle control much now. She did not respond much at all today, just a few brief moments, one of those was when her friend, Teresa and her daughter, Delaney were here. She opened her eyes and motioned for Delaney to come to her and stroked her arm for a few minutes before going back to sleep.

Barb came and spent the morning with us yesterday and the nurse also made a visit. Kyla is having tremors off and on and her feet and hands, especially her left hand, are posturing. Jill helped me today to take her to bathroom and because it seems to be so hard on her I decided we should probably not move her from the bed any longer. It just seems to take so much out of her. She woke up tonight around 10:30 and said hi to Dave and responded with a nod that her head hurt. She was able to swallow her medications for seizures and pain crushed in applesauce followed by a couple of sips of water. She ate very little today, just a few bites and sips. I feel time is short for her. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Good Days

Kyla had a good day yesterday. I even managed to convince her to let me take her outside for a walk in the wheel chair. Maybe she remembers me giving Emmy a ride on her tricycle and crashing on the way downhill in our driveway several years ago and was afraid of my driving! But she just chuckled when I reminded her of that episode....can you imagine how dumb I looked? But we did walk in the sunshine and there was a wonderful breeze. When we came back up on the deck she decided she wanted to sit in the swing with me so we stayed out there for about an hour and had a chance to talk and I could tell her how much I love her and will miss her, my little girl. This brought both of us to tears and she said she would miss her girls the most. Since her surgery in March she has not cried or been able to feel much emotion about things. The surgery and disease had affected her judgement, emotions, etc. so this was good to see that she really does feel things, just not in the way we remembered. Barb and Kalli brought us dinner that evening and after eating she was pretty wiped out and went to bed.

Today she spent most of the day sleeping after her shower. That seems to make her so tired and relaxed each day. Shirley, the hospice nurse made a visit this afternoon and showed me some exercises to do with her arms and legs and ordered the medications we were running out of. Kyla stayed awake most of the late afternoon so that she could see her cousin, Eric and his girlfriend, Stephanie in the evening. After they left she was very tired and so I got her ready for bed and she is now sleeping peacefully.

Little Lucy loving her momma on the day Kyla left for Disneyland

Grandpa Leroy with Lucy and Emma during his visit to Kyla

Addie Mae and Kalli posing before swimming on a very hot day

Vonda with the girls, Lucy, Lexie and Addie Mae

Emmy posing before swimming....check out her cool goggles!

A toothy grin from Lucy

Byron and Lucy get a ride from Uncle Brian (aka Uncle Handsome)

Byron with the cows

Byron takes a swim

Caring for Kyla

Since I wrote last, Kyla has declined fairly rapidly. She is now is in a wheel chair as her left side mobility is affected. She doesn't communicate much...just answers yes and no mostly. But every once in a while she will talk a little. She spends much of her time sleeping, either in the recliner or in bed. I try to keep her out in the house with us during the day even if she does sleep. It just feels better to have her with us. Brian and Charo spend most of the mornings with us and Jill and Lucy, Emma and Byron spend the afternoons. I have been able to get out a couple of time to run an errand or two and that is so great. We now have a hospital bed for Kyla which makes it much easier helping her up and down. She basically can't take care of herself at all now. I shower, dress, and change her. She can still eat but even I have noticed that she is having a little more difficulty each day.

We have had so much company since her move out with us. Her grandfather from Baker, Leroy came to see her, her aunts and uncles, Barb & Rick, Loretta, Kristi and Pat, Gary and Patti, Mike and Linda, & John and Lisa, cousins: Kamisha, Jason, Aaron, Shalon, Schelly, Jordan, Addie Mae, Lexie, Kallista, Molly, Sean, Celina and Marisa all have visited in the past week. Her friend, Teresa comes at least once a week as well as visits from Susan and Alison, Joe and Shari, Dez, and others that I just can't think of now. I read her all of the notes and messages and she feels all the love and support right now and we all thank each of you for your time as well and lovely cards and messages, phone calls and visits. It means more than you know.

Kyla and Emma had a wonderful time in Disneyland. Jill did such a great job taking care of Kyla. Thank you Jill! You are terrific. Our days are spent caring for Kyla and surrounding her with love as she prepares to leave this world. I will try to post again soon.