Support for Don and Verna Baldwin

On March 5th, 2020 our world turned upside down. My mom, Verna, went to the hospital with a terrible stomach ache in the morning and by afternoon we had the diagnosis - Stage 4 Rectal Cancer. It was in her intestines, her liver, her lungs, everywhere. They would not be able to remove the tumour but she could go on chemo. She immediately was taken into surgery for a colostomy and would spend over a month in the hospital. She had to heal from her surgery and learn how to live with a colostomy bag.
By March 20th, 2020, COVID-19 reached Newfoundland and she was not allowed any visitors. She stayed, alone, in the hospital until mid April when we were overjoyed to take her home. Things were looking up and my parents were more than happy to buy the things she needed to stay home - a new bed that was higher, a new chair that lifted, a million new things they need for her colostomy bag, and so many new prescriptions along with many more things. She soon started chemo and her journey of learning how to live with all her new chemo symptoms along with still recovering from her surgery. And things were going well and we thought the chemo was working.
On August 5th mom took a fall down 3 stairs and was readmitted to the hospital with a brain bleed. She stayed in the hospital for 3 more weeks while she recovered - learning how to walk, write, talk, everything because of the brain bleed. We took her home again - this time she and dad moved upstairs with my Nan so that someone could be with her at all times. We had to have home care workers and ambulatory care but she was getting steadily better and we thought she would start chemo again. Then things got worse again. Because of her liver damage fluid built up in her abdomen (5L when they finally drained it). This caused her extraordinary pain and an inability to eat much of anything. She started to get weaker and sicker much faster.
This past Tuesday (September 15th) she was suppose to have day surgery to remove the fluid and then start back on chemo in the afternoon. When they removed the fluid and did tests we learned things were much worse than we thought. The doctors decided that her body would not be able to tolerate anymore chemo and the best the could do was make her comfortable. They have told us she could have days, maybe weeks, but that she would likely never leave the hospital again and to plan for the worst.


Over the past 7 months my dad, Don, has had to take many days off work to take care of my mom and now he is staying with her 24/7 in the hospital. He is amazing and he will be the first to tell you that the people you love are worth any cost in the world. My mom is his shining light, his person, his home. But the bills don't stop coming. There were so many extra expenses between the travel back and forth to the hospital, all the new medical equipment, clothes, medicine, mom needed, the many meals eaten out, and dad having to take time off work. He wasn't able to pick up the odd jobs he does or the overtime they rely on. My mom does not have life insurance because no one would cover her preexisting conditions and a lot of the medical equipment will never be covered by her medical insurance. My dad is facing coming home from the hospital without his wife to a mountain of debt, especially after paying the funeral and burial costs. He is the last person to ask for money or financial help - he is in fact at the hospital trying to buy mom's visitors coffee and snacks - so I will ask for him. We need some help. Small or big or even just sharing this fundraiser will help.

My mother is the strongest person I know. She has lived with chronic pain my entire life (and long before I came along) but it never stopped her. She was the life of party and loved being around people. She made friends everywhere she went (and her hospital room has had a constant parade of friends and family since she has been there). Her laugh filled a room and she adopted every one of mine and Tasha's friends as her own. I had friends come and stay at our house for weeks without question. There was always an open seat at our dining room table for whoever came by. She is fiercely independent and stubborn as a goat. She would bend over backwards (a particularly difficult feat for her haha) to help anyone who asked. She more than once brought dinner to my friends even when I wasn't even in the province. She loved to talk (and talk and talk and talk) she would have you on the phone for hours laughing and telling stories. I could tell you a million amazing things about my mom but I don't think I have to - every person she meets loves her and has their own good stories to tell - and I am sure we would love to hear every one.

It has been an impossible 7 months. A year ago my mom was so happy, so well, so vibrant, so excited for the next chapter of her life. We have no idea how to get by without her but we know that we have so many good friends and family members (and friends who might as well be family) who will take care of us for her.


-Nikki Baldwin