Funeral...

Funeral Services

Friday
Oct 28 3pm-4pm – Family Viewing
4pm-7pm – Public Viewing
Hillcrest Memorial Center
9353 W Clearwater Ave Kennewick

Saturday
Oct 29 10:30am-11:30 – Open Viewing
12pm – Funeral Services at the Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Pasco Stake Chapel
Pasco Stake Center
2004 Rd 24
Pasco WA 99301


Immediately following Gravesite Dedication at Riverview Heights Cemetary in Kennewick off 10th and Olympia

A Great Wife, Mother, Daughter and Sister...

Has passed away this night! We are deeply sad to say that tonight around 11:45 Rochelle Christine Bassett took her last breath. We like to think that she was waiting to see Kamden with her new Birthday present that came today and that she wanted her last kisses and hugs from the kids.
This is Kendall sister #4, and I am not as good at this as Bailey sister #5 who was getting after me today just an hour before to update the blog that I promised would get done while she was gone back a home with her own family. I hope that you all pray for the kids and Ryan at this time.
Rochelle was a great example to us in so many ways and will be missed. We know that she is in a better place. We are grateful for all the many messages that were left for her and the family they have been very comforting and a great way to remember the life of an amazing daughter of God.
We will try to update soon with more information about the funeral arrangements.
Please know that we are very at peace and that Ryan has said that he is thankful for the prayers as they have helped him feel much peace at this time.

Special day

I think it will be ok if she decided to go today it will be a special day for Kamden and Rochelle. Whatever happens it will all workout for the best.

Strong heart

Rochelles heart is pumping overtime to compensate for all the other organs that are beginning to shut down. She is not getting enough oxygen. The hospice nurse is here and feels it will be soon if not today. She may fight until tomorrow because she knows it's Kamdens birthday.

Nothing new

Nothing new tonight, Rochelle is still unresponsive. Not much more to say.


Me not having anything to say does not happen very often, Just ask my husband. :)

Good sleep...

I don't know about Ryan but I slept GREAT, amazing what good sleep will do. Also Ryan told me I was snoring all night, so I know I was out cold.

Rochelle had a fever all last night and this morning. Moving her eyes and toes are about the only way she can let us know what she needs, likes, or does not like something. I think everything going on is confusing to the kids, family over all the time, and Ryan has told them mom is dying but every morning she is still here. Even Ryan feels like she is paying him back for all those times he teased her and stood at the top of the stairs to scare her when she came up. Looking at pictures from last week and it is amazing how much weaker she as become in such a short amount of time. She has stopped drinking any water, she can no longer sit up and suck, and water only seems to cause her to cough.

Today we are having a family birthday party for Kamden,

Birthday Party

Kamden turns nine on Monday, so she celebrated with a beauty party. She had the party at Rochelles good friend, Danielles house. A bunch of older girls from their church came to help all the little girls get pedicures, makeup, hair, and nails done. Don't they look beautiful! Kamden had a full day of fun thanks to everyone who helped contribute.


Ryan has been spending the day trying to make Rochelle as comfortable as possible.

Pink Soccer...

Kamdens soccer team made pink ribbons and they all wore pink socks for the game!

Long night...

Ryan and I have been up most of the night with Rochelle who had a hard night. Rochelle is sleeping and now the kids are up. Kamden has a soccer game, and her birthday party today. I am off to try and curl Kamdens hair (cross your fingers) that stubborn little girl will let me near her hair.

Movie and pizza

Bassett family has a tradition of pizza and a movie on Friday nights. We rented Hocus Pocus and had pizza for dinner. I am sure this tradition will continue for years to come.

Rochelle seems even more weak tonight, We can tell she really wants to join our conversation tonight but does not have the strength to voice her opinion, we both knew exactly what she would say if she could. Rochelle had no problem voicing her opinion and you never doubted how she felt about any situation.

Pumpkin Patch...

The kids did not want to go to school today so we took them to the pumpkin patch.

Relief

Every day gets a little harder, Rochelle is so weak she can not even speak. Ryan made the comment yesterday that it must be frustrating for her to sit here and listen to us talk and she can not contribute, and we all know how much Rochelle loves to talk. She has no strength to even scratch her face. We have watched her lift her arms up a few inches and we think what does she need to scratch, to stretch, a drink? So of course we try them all in hopes of keeping her comfortable. She loves when we wash her face, yesterday when we were washing her arm pits she said in relief, thats just what I need.

Pay it forward

Rochelle had tears today when Ryan was talking about her their first and last date, both at Dairy Queen.

Rochelle asked to see her kids tonight. They each came in and told her about their days and Ryan sat behind Rochelle holding her up and helped her to wrap her arms around each kid and give them a hug.

I lost it tonight when I came into the bedroom and Ryan said Rochelle had a sad face, and NO ONE should have to suffer like this. Especially Rochelle who is such a great person and would serve and do anything even for a stranger. Rochelle loves her friends and family so much, and has helped so many people. Even with cancer and going through surgeries and chemo she was still taking care of so many people. I know Rochelle would approve of this, I want to encourage everyone to do service for someone. Honestly Rochelle does not need anything at this time, but so many other people do. Please, carry on Rochelle's service attitude. Rochelle's attitude towards service is don't ask, just do it.

Alma 40:12
And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

This scripture brings me peace, and I look forward to the day Rochelle will be in paradise, and rest from all troubles, care, and sorrow.

No...

is Rochelle's favorite word this morning no don't touch me, no medicine, no water. she has a morning routine of trying to get out of bed, today she wanted to go to West Richland Park. Ryan finally after a little work was able to give her some medicine to relax her. She is relaxed and sleeping.

Family Pictures

They took family pictures last Friday, we lOVE them.

Rochelle has been sleeping most of the day. This morning she wanted to go to Freddie's (Fred Meyers) with her sisters for a girls shopping trip. She kept wanting to get out of bed, once she relaxed she has been sleeping all day.

chatty...

Rochelle slept all night, and woke up this morning ready to sit up and go to the bathroom and give her kids hugs before school. She told Carter he has to go to school when he was telling his dad he didn't want to. She even told me don't touch me, when I went in to help her sit up. Just a little morning update, more to come later.

Ready for bed...

Not many changes since my last post. Ryan had a meeting with the kids tonight and he mentioned it looks like mom is sleeping but she can hear them. Ryan said Rochelle will wiggle her toes if she can hear and so they all looked down and sure enough Rochelle wiggled her toes. We are getting ready for bed so I just wanted to post so everyone knew where we stood. Lots of crying today I think we are all physically and emotionally tired.

Love...

Rochelle has been pretty unresponsive today . Her breathing is more shallow, but her heart is still strong.

She is not responding much today, but when Ryan said he loved her she mouthed she loved him and gave him a kiss.

The kids...

I have loved every minute I got to spend with Rochelle today.

What an amazing experience this has been. Ryan was exhausted this morning when he got up, or as he put it he never went to bed, Rochelle was very agitated last night and kept wanting to get out of bed. Ryan said at 6:30am she was getting up and just wanted to go to work. Ryan took a little break and went to work for a short time today and my mom and I had a great time with Ro. Rochelle has been wanting to get up and out of bed all day or just wanting to sit up. She speaks very quiet and slurred but mostly knows exactly what she wants to say. She has been confused and other times is very cleared headed. Rochelle has been waving to no one we can see all day and talking about things that we can not see, and we have been wondering just how thin the veil is today.

The Social Worker for hospice has left the kids packets to talk about death. I have spent time today going over the packets and talking with Carter (6) and Kamden (9 next week) about their mom and giving them an opportunity to tell how they are feeling. Kamden has loved the activities. The kids have a lot of anger and whenever I ask how they are feeling they say very sad.


For those who are wondering how to make a donation:

Bank of America
Kennewick Branch
3420 West Kennewick Ave
Kennewick, Wa 99336

Rochelle Bassett Cancer Fund

Lots of laughs...

Finally, after a little work we finally figured out how to get on Rochelle's blog to update. This is Bailey sister #5, I flew in last night and I am staying at Rochelle's house with Chauntel sister #3. Rochelle had a hard night last night, the hospice nurse came and doubled her pain meds. Tonight they have placed a tube in her stomach to pump out the acids, to help with her upset stomach.

Our large family has been spending the day lounging and reminiscing about the past, we also took a picture with all six sisters. We all piled onto the bed next to Rochelle and when we were asked to smile she stuck her tongue out at the camera. Another funny moment today was when she was trying to get out of the bed and Kendall #4, asked her why she was getting up and what she needed, she quickly responded with, " what are you the police". Tonight Ryan mentioned that he had hoped to find her wedding ring he was not sure where she had put it. Without a word and with eyes closed she pointed to the shelf that had a vase full of pebbles, and there it was. Today when her nephew Tristan (3yrs. old) was leaving and went to give her a kiss, her response was, "Ok it will cost you $2.50". She has been making us laugh, but mostly she has been resting eyes closed and not very verbal. She looks very fragile and frail. Ryan asked me to add this story... Last night when Rochelle was having strong pain in her stomach and they were waiting for the hospice nurse to come. Ryan kneeled down next to the bed and told Rochelle it was ok if she was ready to go she could, they would be ok. It was a very sweet and kind gesture, but Rochelle informed him she did not think that was what was going on, I think it's just my stomach, basically stop over reacting Ryan.

Fall 2011

Rochelle wanted to update her blog. This is what she asked me to type... Danielle

Summer flew by so fast with all the cancer stuff going on. I visited CTCA and they didn't have much to say or do for me. I had several scans. The cancer has spread to the kidneys. With all the medical stuff I didn't get to play with my kids much. I spent a lot of time in the emergency room because of dehydration. I have now been in the hospital for 11 days. I'm hoping to go home soon once hospice is set up. Please no pity parties. I'm still a fighter - I'll just be fighting on the other side soon. Thanks for your support, your help, and your kindness. There are lots of people who need service please don't stop with me. Remember I'm not dead yet. I can still talk and have fun. I have some good moments but please understand I don't know when those will be so don't take it personal. Please have good days for me. Love, Rochelle

Don't Know What to Say BAD POSTER!

It's been so long I am not sure I can remember all that has gone on this summer.

Lots of treatment and appointments. A few weeks ago I finally started Tykerb. It is not a chemo more of a hormone chemo. It seem to be dropping my CA numbers. I have had lots of stomach problems, my left leg from the knee down is numb, have a little trouble walking, I had some sever anxiety attacks. Apparently, I have completely forgotten anything for two days and did some funny things. Like trying to jump out of the truck while it was still going.


I have a doc apt tomorrow that goes over some test I had last Friday. Hope to update tomorrow.

June 2011 update

Time for an update. I had a few minutes and thought i would update on what has been going on. I went to CTCA last week. So this will be a little longer.

Just before I left the numbers after round 5 went up one point. I think that was from the red blood shot I was getting. I received it for three weeks. The form I had to sign each time warned that the chemo might not work as while. So I received a blood transfussion because the shots went working. As far as the numbers go it went up one point to 78 from 77.

I then finished round 6 and went down to CTCA. They did a PET scan and found that the cancer i had before had shrink some but was still in the kidney and they lymphnods in my pelviis. Plus I have two new spots out side my kidney.

So the doctor decided to keep me on herceptin and take me off the chemo Xeloda and put me on Tykerb. Tykerb is similar to Herceptin it has to do with my hormons. I am waiting to see if the insurance with pay for it. Then I will do the Tykerb and the Herceptin. Tykerb is a pill and the herceptin is an IV drug once every three weeks.

I also had my tube replaced on my nephostomy. I am currently trying to get it put inside. The doctor's office is recoring a refferal even though my insuance doesn't recory it. I hope it will get done before summer is over.

I got my numbers before I left. My CA 2729 waas 83. Not bad went up 5 points in a week and a half.

I saw a Dr. and had a colonoscopy done and endoscopy. Found out that my stomach isn't working. So I have to take pills 4 times a day half hour before meals. Lots of fun.

If the Tykerb and Herceptin don't work then it is back to Xeloda and Tykerb if that doesn't work then on to Seattle for case studies.

I am feeling pretty good. The stomach still hurts and I am not on Tykerb but things could be a whole lot worse.

Thank you for your prayers and nice messages. They are very uplifting thank you!

rEAliZe

O.k. so I didn't realize how long it has been since I have updated. Sorry! I just started round 6 on Monday. I will be going to CTCA soon to have scans, hopefully remove the tube in my back before summer hits, possible do more chemo or maybe done. We will see. I am getting more tired. I had a blood transfusion at the beginning of the fifth round. It gave me more color and a little more energy. I am still a little tired. Numbers have gone from over 800 to 4th round 77, 5th round 78. It didn't drop we think because of the Procret shots which are for helping your red blood cells. So no more Procret shot. The blood transfusion hopefully took care of bring up my counts on the red blood cell count. So I am hopeing this round will put me at 0. We will know in a few weeks. I am doing well just tired.

Still hoping for warmer weather!

What's the number

It is time again to update. I have hand and foot syndrome it has gotten worse. My hands and feet are very sore and at night it tends to get a little worse. I saw the doctor this week and she said it isn't bad enough to stop treatment. Plus it seems to be working really well the chemo Xeloda. We assume this from my new CA2729 number which is now 100 and some. I can't remember if it is 150 or 113 either way this is awesome. Normal is 0-40. I have had it as low as 24 and as high as 818. So this is great news. I still have three more rounds of chemo. I am so excited numbers haven't done this well in a long while.

Just a shout out to Great Grandma Basset thank you so much for your cards you send every week. What a blessing you have been in my life. I hope you are getting better. Not saying that I haven't appreciated all the other cards, dinners, babysitting and house cleaning and even just the how are u's and the hello's, the comments on the blog they all mean a lot. They seem to always come at a good time and are very much appreciated. I haven't said that in a while so thank you so much.

I hope we see some warmer weather soon. We went to Cal. to visit Ryan's grandma she had a stroke. The weather was beautiful it was in the 70's and 80's while we were there. Apparently they had a lot of rain lately so much the farms were still flood a little. So I am looking forward to the 70's and 80's. It seems the last two spring/summer it goes 50's low 60's to 90's no in between. I would like a some spring weather.

One more thing, I know that not everyone that reads this blog is LDS but I still feel the need to bear my testimony of the truthfulness of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know that God I know with out the Savior and the knowledge of the gospel I would not be here today. I have a strong testimony that there is a true and living prophet on the earth today. Who I love for his great example of Service and his leadership. That the gospel of Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. That Joesph Smith translate the Book of Mormon and that he was a prophet of God. I know that without the priesthood and worth priesthood holders here on the earth today and that I would not have received so many blessing surviving this cancer I have. I love my Savior and all the many, many blessings he has given to me. I also know that the temple is the house of our Heavenly Father. I have a testimony of this. I am thankful for the temple and for the bless of being able to have an eternal family.

Again thanks for all those who still read and comment.

Feeling Well!

Hey, mom is telling me again that it is time to update. I keep thinking about it but then I get busy do so many other things. It is that time of year. Cole started baseball practice last week. Carter hasn't been called yet for a team. Kamden was going to do soccer but we haven't heard from them yet. This is the busiest season from now until summer. I love the warmer weather and all the activities. Not that we have warmer weather right know.

Anyway about what is going on. After the first round (816) of chemo my CA 2729 number dropped to 600 and something. The swelling start to go away and so did the pain. So I went off my pain meds cold turkey. I found out that is not the way you are to go off pain meds. Oh, well now I know if I every have to do it again I will not go off the right way. I survived with just a few not so good side effects from just stopping.

So this week I saw Dr. here. Just started third round of chemo pill and Herceptin infusion. My numbers before we started third round are down to 268. Is that awesome or what. Hopefully this round will knock the numbers back to normal. Then we can do three more rounds to make sure it is gone. We will see what time brings.

I am doing really well. The only side effects the last two weeks has been the hand and foot. They have been very red and hot. So really I am doing really good. Oh, and I still have my hair.

The only bad news is I recently found out I only get 4 scans a year with my insurance and I have already used 3. Two of the scans were for the appendix and one for the cancer.

New NUMBERS

Have some time today so I thought I would update. Jillian you asked about the interesting pain management dr. No we didn't see him again and no he isn't going to manage my pain. He didn't figure out a good schedule either.

Since I have been home I have seen Dr. Kris and Dr. Rado. There are a few new things. I will come back here for treatment after my second around of treatment in Phoenix. On Monday it will be the end of the first two weeks of Xeloda. Definitely more tired with this chemo or maybe just worn down because of the pain. I think Dr. Rado helped us figure out a good pain schedule for the drugs. It seems to be working and keeping the pain gone. Dr.Kris is giving me some new pills to help with all the swelling I have been having.

And last but not least my numbers as of Monday were 816. That is the highest they have ever been. When I was first diagnosed that number was in the 700's. So I hope this chemo does it job well.

Last update for this Trip to Pheonix

Please forgive me.... with my messy writing.... incomplete sentences... and very bad spelling. The Dr. changed my pain meds and I seem to be more tired and loopy. So I am going to try to sum up the rest of what happened this week. Ryan and I were trained on how to take care of my nephrostamy tube. We learned new things each day this week. We also meet with a very interesting man about managing my pain. I also visited the hospital here in CTCA. They had to give me some more pain meds because the pain got out of control again last night like on Monday. We stayed busy this week. Not like two weeks ago where I got to rest a little more. Oh and guess what .....last Saturday my hair started to fall out again. I little more each day. Haven had to cut it yet.

Last update for the day!

O.k. one more post for today. I saw the Dr. Malad. We are going to wait and see about the swelling. He thinks it has to do with the kidney and that the cancer in the lymph nods are causing the sever swelling and the pain. So he put me on some better pain meds. We will see how they work. I am hoping they work better than what I have been on. Tomorrow I will start Herceptin again which is an infusion once every three weeks and I have gone to a chemo therapy pill called Xeloda which I will take 3 Tabs twice a day for two weeks then off a week and repeat two weeks on one week off. I think I will be doing all that at home except this first round. That is as long as Rado is o.k. with this plan. Then I will go to CTCA Phoenix once a month or once every couple of months we will just play it by ear. Watch the CT2729 numbers.

Another update from Phoenix

I saw Dr. Smith last Monday. He is the Dr. that took out my appendix. He sent my appendix to the lab. The report came back that the reason my appendix looked so different was because it was full of cancer. He said he has never seen that before. I am not saying that never happens he just said he had never seen that before.

Sunday night Ryan and I fly out here to Phoenix again. At 7am this morning I went in for surgery. I had a Nephrostomy Tube put in my kidney It takes the fluid out of my kidney and into a bag I carry on my side. The surgery went really well. I was up within an hour.

So I will see the doctors in about an hour.

I am still having a lot of pain around the pelvic area and I am swelling really bad in funny places. So hopefully they will have some answers for me. We will also see what they are going to do about the raising tumor marker. My CA2729 was over 450.

Update from Pheonix

O.k. I am with you guys I love pictures but I am not at my computer today so no pictures. Sorry. Lots of update. Let's see where to start. I think I told you I had my fifth round of chemo in December. In Jan saw the doctor she decided even though numbers were up we would still do this last round to helpfully keep them from really jumping higher. I think the CA 2729 on Jan 15 was 365 or so. On Fri the 15th I had my 6th and last round of chemo and was giving orders to go a get a CT/PET.

I wasn't able to make that appoint yet. I had been having very bad pain for about two weeks before treatment and had started to take some high doses of pain meds. While on Sunday nigh after treatment on Friday I started throwing up and coming out the other end and lots of pain. So Ryan took my to the hospital. The did a CT scan and thought it look like it was probably the appendix. They decided to put us in a more comfy room upstairs about 4 am. I didn't see the doctor until about 3:45 on Monday he said let go. So 15 mins later I was being prepared for surgery. Everything went well. He did say he had never seen anything like it and didn't know why it hadn't ruptured. So I left the oh so lovely hospital around 11pm that night.

Well we decided to go back down to CTCA and see what they think of numbers being high just to look at everything. In the mean time I am in still in quite a bit a pain. CTCA got me a flight and an appointment the following Tuesday or yesterday a week after surgery.

I thought I had done such a good job collecting all the information they would need here. Long story short we didn't have everything we needed to make any decisions yesterday. They did a CT and I saw the doctor but apparently they have stop doing there own blood work for the CA2729 numbers so we are still waiting on those they take three days before we really decided what chemo to put me back on. He said there is still cancer but it doesn't seem to look as bad and there isn't any in the lungs like they thought there maybe. So he decided to check out the pain I am still having. So he sent my for an ultra sound this morning. The lady showed my what pictures she took. She showed me my right kidney it looked prefect she said then she showed the left. She said that it didn't' look normal. There were 5 black holes that is what she called them. So I will see a doc tomorrow at 2pm. Unless I hear from my doctor soon. So we are hoping thing will be all summed up by Thur Night. We shall see. I guess I am on vacation. I can't say it has been a very pain free vacation and I miss my family already. I know Ryan is taking good care of the kids.

So so long and not pictures but I did update!