Christmas Ornaments

Wonderful suggestion from Amy Forster, one of Shauna's friends: "I have an idea for friends of Shauna - Christmas time is such a hard time of year to lose a loved one. To help with this through the years I have a thought for her friends from all over the world to send a tree ornament from you about you, where you live or about how you knew Shauna. When the kids decorate the tree for years to come they will have ornaments in tribute to their mother of how much she was loved by all her friends. Wouldn't it be great if her 500+ facebook friends sent ornaments for the kids."

If you'd like to send an ornament, you can send it to the Immels @

13405 SW Lancewood Street
Beaverton OR 97008

Sign ups for helping with the Celebration of Life can be found at the lotsahelpinghands website.

Thanks,

Paris Dukes

ParisDukes@comcast.net

Celebration of Life

Shauna's Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010, 1:00PM at the Cabell Center, Catlin Gabel School, 8825 SW Barnes Road, Portland, OR.

More details to follow next week for food sign ups, etc.

Please contact Paris Dukes at parisdukes@comcast.net for more information.

Services

From the family:

Hi all - update on services. There will be 'family only' services in Portland & Seattle this weekend. Then, there will be a celebration of Shauna's life that will be open for everyone sometime in January. We'll post details about the celebration as soon as we have them (date, time, location). Thanks.

Shauna

Dear friends, Shauna passed away peacefully earlier this evening. We are grateful that her suffering is over. Thank you for all the support you have given her throughout her fight. We will post information about services when we know more. The family is requesting privacy at this time.

Fundraiser for Shauna

This is Shauna's friend, Paris. Shauna has asked me to post the following information on her blog.

I wanted to let you know about a book I have created on Shauna's behalf. It is an 8 1/2" x 11" soft-bound printed book that combines many of Shauna's amazing Galapagos photos with selected writings from her blog. Many of the writings are from her experience with Write Around Portland.

With her permission, I am selling copies of this book as a fundraiser for the Shauna Berglund-Immel Lifeline Fund. My cost for the book is $22 plus shipping (approx. $2). Any donation in addition to the $24 will be donated to Shauna.

This book has been a labor of love and a celebration of my friendship with Shauna. I would be greatly touched to share this book with all who love and support Shauna.

If you would like to order a book, please contact me via email:

parisdukes@comcast.net

You may make checks payable to me, Paris Dukes, or send payment via paypal at jandpdukes@comcast.net. My address is:

12235 SW Fulmar Terrace
Beaverton, OR 97007

I will forward any donations (not including the price of the book) to the Immel family as the orders come in.

Thank you for your continued support. Your donations will be greatly appreciated. Please contact me with any questions.

Fondly,
Paris

Hospice

So here I am. On hospice. But at home. Where my husband and my family are my caretakers. Wondering how I got here. Why I got here. Wanting to go back to how things were, even a few months ago. When I was free. Independent. A social butterfly. A soccer mom. On the go. Multitasking. Not being fed intraveniously, on a short leash because I have an NG tube hanging out of my nose, hooked up to a pump 24/7. Back to when I was just Shauna with stage 4 cancer, not Shauna, homebound on hospice. It's really cramping my style.

I've not settled in well. Into this lifestyle. I'm not used to being homebound. On a short leash. Going from the couch to my bed to the couch again. I've been angry. And depressed. Distracted. Unable to concentrate and enjoy things I used to. Like reading, blogging, writing, crossword puzzles, facebooking and the sort. I just don't find joy in them anymore. So I've been watching TV and too much of it. And it isn't pretty. Any of it really. It gets old really fast.

So there is no resting on hospice. You have a revolving door. They start calling you at 830am to make appointments and then a steady stream of hospice nurses, infusion nurses, chaplains, social workers, physical therapists, bath aides etc. visit you throughout the day and week. It gets quite tiring. Especially if you're not feeling well. Sleeping through the night is impossible, hooked up to TPN, my liquid diet, from 6pm until 1030am the next morning. Infused daily through my port in my chest. On top of being hooked up to the NG TUBE suction.

So that's my life lately. Exciting. NOT.

xoxoxox

Shauna

The Life Boat

The Life Boat
by Shauna Berglund Immel

Life is like a Cruise Ship.
Like the Carnival Line.
Exciting and fun.
Sailing over the waters with ease.
Without a care in the world.

Dolphins jump in the wake.
Like a marching band
leading a float in a parade.

Waves break against the bough (bow?)
Turning water into mist
like confetti falling.
Dancing in the salty air
like fairies in flight.

I stand at the helm,
taking in the beauty of the beyond
and pondering the endless possibilities
as far as the eye can see
Like the ocean.
The places I can go.
The things I can see.

I breathe in the scent of the sea
slowly
Savoring the salty aroma

The salt air tickles my face
as we sail head on into the wind.
Full speed ahead.

But the ocean
and Mother Nature,
like life,
are unpredictable.

Clouds move in like shadows
as the solitude of the still blue sky
turns to chaos.

The wind,
once a soft, warm breeze,
picks up speed
and the wet sprinkles on your face,
which once felt like soft kisses
now sting like a swarm of bees.

The seas swell
and the ocean waves,
once like a steady, mesmerizing heartbeat
Slap the side of the ship with force
Tossing it around
like a toy ship at odds
with a raging, swirl of sea.
So small and fragile.

No match for the strenght of the sea,
The ship takes on water
Like the weight of the world.
Beginning to go under.
Sinking deeper into the abyss.

Until all that is left
is but a tiny rowboat
adrift in the storm.

I read this tonight at the Write Around Portland Anthology Release Party They needed more footage of me for a documentary they are working on. It's always nice to participate in those readings. It's a great organization that does so much for the community

Wasn't feeling well today. Very nauseous and feels like increased fluid in my abdominal area. A lot of pressure in my rib area, like when I had it before and they took me away in the ambulance. I know better than to do that again! Also got some bad news. My daughter's teacher was diagnosed with breast cancer. Which means she will be gone for part of the year to deal with all that entails. It just seems like we can't get away from this. My son's middle school home room teacher/advisor was diagnosed with cancer in 7th grade, both of her gymnastics coaches were diagnosed and one ended up passing away. We miss Irina. Kaelin's reaction was "Everyone has cancer." and then she listed all of the people, including me. What is going on? Why is it following us wherever we go. Bringing up bad memories and feelings. We just can't seem to catch a break and get a breather from it. It is very prominent in our life. Where before I was diagnosed, Irina was the only one we knew. I feel like I bring bad karma wherever i go. Is it me???? It breaks my heart that these people now have to deal with this disease too. When will someone find a cure?? We need one. And soon. Sigh.

My mom bought a new Mac Book Pro laptop, so I am back in the blogging business, photos and all! I have so much catching up to do! I will leave you with a photo of the day from my Galapagos Trip, which was heaven on earth. Enjoy! xoxoxo Shauna

photo of me at the Equator in Quito, Ecuador