Judy's Video Tribute

Our son-in-law (Kip Jensen, Shelly's husband) has put together a beautiful video highlighting Judy's life... due to the length, it has been posted in four parts.

You can watch them all right here... or on YouTube (click here).



Part 1 of 4





Part 2 of 4




Part 3 of 4




Part 4 of 4






 

Family Photos (taken 11/2008)

Judy & Jerry Stockett



top row: Sheri (1st), Sharol (2nd), Mom, Dad, Shelly (6th), Stephanie (7th)
bottom row: Richard (3rd), John (4th), Jason (5th)



top row: Madeleine (Sheri's 3rd), Bailey (Sharol's 3rd), Julia (Sharol's 1st), Christopher (on Julia's lap, Sheri's 4th), Grandma, Abigail (on Judy's lap, John's 3rd), Grandpa, Jordan (Sharol's 2nd), Bennett (Sharol's 4th)
bottom row: Gabrielle (Sheri's 2nd), Jonathon (Sheri's 1st), Tristan (Richard's 1st), Madison (Shelly's 2nd), Dakota (Cody, Shelly's 1st), Caden (John's 1st), Logan (John's 2nd)




top row: Richard, Tristan (Richard's), Chantel (Richard's wife), Derek Andelin, Stephanie Andelin, Jason, Shelly Jensen, Kip Jensen, Amy (John's wife), John, Abigail (John's)
middle row: Christopher (Sheri's), Sheri Barrus, Danny Barrus, Grandma, Grandpa, Julia (Sharol's), Sharol Taylor, Martell Taylor, Jordan (Sharol's)
bottom row: Jonathon (Sheri's), Gabrielle (Sheri's), Madeleine (Sheri's), Madison (Shelly's), Dakota (Shelly's), Bennett (Sharol's), Caden (John's), Logan (John's), Bailey (Sharol's)

Funeral Details

We are very grateful for the kinds thoughts, words and deeds since Judy's passing last night. Please be aware of the following events (all are invited to attend):

Viewing #1
Wednesday (3/4/09) from 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Wing Mortuary
118 East Main
Lehi, UT 84043
map
(801) 768-9514

Viewing #2
Thursday (3/5/09) from 10:00am to 11:00am
Pointe Meadows Chapel
2150 N Pointe Meadow Drive
Lehi, UT 84043
map

Funeral Service
Thursday (3/5/09) at 11:00am
Pointe Meadows Chapel
2150 N Pointe Meadow Drive
Lehi, UT 84043
map

Graveside Service
Following the Funeral Service
Lehi Cemetery
1100 North 400 East
Lehi, UT 84043
map
map from church to plot (Judy's plot is on the north side)


We are still very interested in receiving any of your thoughts and/or experiences relating to Judy. Please email them to jerrystockett@comcast.net or feel free to write them down and give them to a family member at any of the events listed above. Also, if you have any photos of Judy, please email them to us as well.

Friday, Feb 28, 2009 at 1:04 AM

Judy Gail Allen (Stockett) passed away Friday night at about 8:20 PM. She suffered greatly all afternoon with bile coming out of her mouth and blood flowing into her catheter bag. She was on so much Morphine at the time her lungs, mouth and nose filled with fluid that she did not know what was going on and never struggled. A few minutes later her heart stopped beating. Most of her children were in the room with her when she expired.

All are doing well and we will post again tomorrow with the funeral details.

Friday, Feb 27, 2009 4:15 PM

At about 9:00 AM John called me on his cell phone, wanting to know where on my 3 mile walk I was. He came and picked me up, saying they didn't know if I could make it back before Judy expired. I made it back, but the next three hours were heart rending as She was in so much pain and throwing up a lot of bile. We gave her ever increasing doses of Morhpine, but could not get ahead of the pain. Her stomach and back were just killing her. We called Hospice and the head nurse came over to assist. She increased the Morphine even more and added Lorazepam to help with the anxiety. Judy struggled like a woman in labor for nearly two hours, before the pain subsided. Since noon she has been in and out of consciousness and has beencatherized. She is just too weak to make it to the bathroom any more. I do not see how she can survive through the night!

Friday, Feb 27, 2009

Judy continues to deteriorate. She can now barely make it to the bathroom and cannot get off the stool without help. We need to get the products necessary so that she does not have to get our of bed any more. We'll talk to hospice when they come later today.

She ate well earlier this week, better than in a long time. However, she has hardly eaten anything in the last couple of days.

They have started work on our basement for the drainage system. We debated on whether to take Judy out of the home during the day, while they were using the jackhammers, or to just see how significant the noise was. She did OK yesterday, but they were working on the other end of the house. We will try to leave her in the house again today, but have made arrangements to move her to Stephanie's home during the day, if necessary. She loves her waterbed (of 35 years) and wants to be in it as long as possible. She will be more comfortabel there than anywhere else.

She enjoyed her massage yesterday and we will probably try that again soon. She has tolerated visitors well, and was actually actively engaging them for several hours yesterday. She drifts in and out of sleep while they are in the room. But, often there are two or more and they just talk to each other until Judy returns from her naps. When awake, she is still lucid and ofter very humorous. It just wouldn't be Judy, unless she could slip in a surprising comment once in a while! Often she is thought to be asleep, when she pops up with a wild comment.

Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009

Hospice has sending in a nurse's aid three times a week to bathe Mother, wash the bedding and fix a meal . She is a darling young woman, so vibrant with life and so kind to Mother. They found an instant connection.

We had been trying to have a testimony meeting with her since Friday night, but things just got too hectic and we never managed to get it done. The entire family was here for awhile, but all of the grandkids have either returned home or are now staying with cousins.

The house was finally quite again last night. Judy had earlier asked to be given a blessing and released to go to her heavenly home. About 9:30 PM John anointed and I sealed the blessing. I was able to tell her that her work on earth had been completed and that she was free to return to her Father and her Savior and behold their great glory and majecsty. I was also able to tell her that she would be greeted by loving family and friends. She had talked about giving many of them a big hug. I promised her that when she saw her Father and her Savior that they would say, "Well done thou good and faithful servant." I also told her that she would feel an all consuming love coming from them, the likes of which would be impossible to feel in this fragile world in which we now live. She seemed contented and stayed awake and talked with those present for quite a while. Sheri, Stephanie and Derek and John were present for the blessing.

Shortly afterwards the Bishop and his darling young wife came over to give mother a big hug and express their love for her. The Bishop mentioned that she had lifted to a higher level all she had come in contact with and they loved her for it. He also said that there were hundreds of homes prayer for her, that she would feel comfortable and have peace during these final days and hours of her mortal existence.

About 1:00 she called for Sheri and asked her to call the Hospice Nurse and tell her that she thought she was dying and would probably be unconscious before she could get here from North Provo. Sheri then called all of the kids that were local and they came over. The nurse examined her and found all of her vital signs to be in the normal range and suggested that everyone go into the family room and give Mother a chance to rest for awhile. At 3:00 AM Shelly came in and told us that she was going home. Mother did not wake up again until about 7:00 AM. Everyone was gone, except Sheri. I gave Mother her antinausea medicaton, fed her a little grapefruit and she went back to sleep. Seems like we are back to the same old routine, Mother eating very little and sleeping a lot.

We are in the process of preparing Judy's life history and her eugology and would appreciate you emailing us any special memories that you might have of Mother. You can email them to me at jerrystockett@comcast.net.

Thank you so much for your love and concern. We have so appreciated all that you have said and done to help Judy move into this next phase of her existence!

Sunday, Feb 22, 2009

During her oncology appointment they drained her abdomen again, taking another 3 1/2 liters of fluid. We did learn that the fluid contained cancer cells. The oncologist told us that there was nothing further that she could do for Judy and directed us towards Hospice.

Hospice came in and changed the meds again, in an attempt to make Judy more comfortable. The next few days didn't to well, as the changes did not work out. During the last couple of days things have improved and she has been able to eat and drink better than in a while.

Hospice has advised us that if she doesn't start eating better, that she will be gone in a few days. If she does, she may last a couple more weeks.

She lost some control of her bowels, and soiled the bedding, herself and the carpeting. Sharol helped clean it up and put things in the washer. We told Judy that it was OK, just part of the disease and that we were honored to care for her. She will undoubtedly experience this again before the end.

Monday, Feb 16, 2009

All of our children were all here this weekend again, except our eldest son and he will be here on Tuesday. They all stayed at Stephanie's or Sharol's, because our basement is stripped down to bare floors, with fans running to dry it out.

Judy is continuing to deteriorate. Home Health Care has been able to get her onto a high potency, 72 hour patch for pain and a suppository for nausea. She was having trouble keeping oral medications down long enough for them to dissolve. She is extremely weak and was unable to attend church at all on Sunday. However, she was able to sit in a chair and talk with family members several times during the day. My youngest sister (Mary Eddenfield) from Sacramento and her family stopped by for a short visit yesterday as well.

Judy has her monthly oncologist visit scheduled for tomorrow and I expect them to suggest that we start hospice care. He respiratory therapist was here to help her with her breathing and only scheduled her for three weeks of treatment. When asked why, she stated that when patients start having breathing problems that they only last a few weeks.

Judy also has quite a bit of fluid in her abdomen again, perhaps a gallon or more. It is unclear whether they will try and remove it a second time.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Judy was doing poorly this morning again. Earlier today she soiled the bedding and her abdominal drain incision was leaking profusely. She was trying to get up off the couch this afternoon and couldn't. So, she got on the floor on her hands and knees to try and get up. That is where Bunny found her this afternoon. Bunny cleaned everything up and remade the bed. We bought some bed pads and more dressings for her incision site and she seems to be doing better.

She had quite a recovery by early this evening. Her jaundice is now gone and she was able to eat solid food. She sat up in the living room and talked to the work crew for 1/2 an hour or so. It looks like she is now out of the woods ... for the time being. Bunny probably extended her life by weeks, if not months. She has been with her 24 hours a day, for 3 days. It was a good thing, because I had so much going that I was unable to attend to her.
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Turns out that the water kept coming into the basement all day today again, so we had to move everything into storage. We now how two 10 x 20 storage units full. We hired a firm to come in the morning, take all of the carpeting out of the basement, take it to their warehouse, dry it out and clean it up. They will also store it until we are ready to put it back down. We have a drywaller coming in the morning to cut off the bottom 2 feet of sheetrock, in preparation for putting in the drains. We probably won't be starting to move back in before the 15th of March. But, at least we can do that slowly, over several weeks if necessary.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

They removed about 2 gallons of fluid from Judy's abdomen yesterday, but we have not yet received a report on the culture. Judy came home yesterday afternoon, but by the time she got packed up, got to the car, endured the ride home and got into the house she was exhausted and frazzled. She looked pretty bad. She had a good night's sleep last night and looks better this morning.

Now for the bad news, unrelated to Judy's condition, our basement flooded Monday, I was up most of the night wet vac'ing the continuing flow of water, trying to minimize the damage. The Elders Quorum was well represented and helped identify all of the wet spots, move items away from the water, pull the carpeting back and help with the wet vac"ing. The water table rose a little too hight and water was coming in all around the perimeter of the basement, wetting the carpeting about two feet into the rooms.

We rented a nearby storage unit and hauled several pickup loads from the basement, to get the stuff out of the road so the basement could be dried out. After dropping off the last load, I backed my pickup into my little Buick and damaged it. It was in the body shop less than two weeks ago, for work on its lifetime paint that was peeling. But it will have to go back again.

I have told my family to just call me Grandpa Job!

Monday, February 9, 2009

They did do the CT scan and found a blockage above the current stint and new leisons in her liver. The liver has stopped functioning, but it is hopeful it will start again after the stint replacement.

I just spoke with the GI surgeon and he said they pulled out the plastic stint and put in a wider, longer metal stint (8mm x 80mm). It goes the entire length of the common bile duct. He said that there was a lot more closed duct than before and a little pus. They are going to try and sample the fluid in the abdomen this afternoon and probably send Mother home tomorrow. She will be on antibiotics for several days, but the surgeon seemed optimistic about her feeling better again ... even though he did say that her disease was now quite advanced.

I spoke with a nurse earlier, who seemed quite knowledgeable, and she would not guess how much longer Mother might have. So I guessed a month or two for her and she said that seemed reasonable based on a good surgical outcome and Mother's general condition.

Judy had a little scare coming out of the anesthesia. She asked where I was and nobody in recovery seemed to know, so she began to fear that I had had an accident coming to the hospital and had been hurt. She wanted me to be there to care for here and was crying when she came into the room.

She had been scheduled for her surgery at 8:30 AM. After leaving the house at 7:00 AM and dropping Jana Vaye off at the airport (for a 9:00 AM flight) I hurried to get to the hospital. I was pleased when I arrived at 7:23 AM. Problem is, they actually took Mother out at 8:00 AM. I checked in with the nursing station when Mother was not in her room and told them that I would be waiting in Mother's room for her to return. The message apparently never got to the recovery room staff.

Saturday, Feb 7, 2009

Judy is not doing well at all! They are having to keep her heavily sedated in order to keep the pain under control. They did not drain the abdomen, but are planning on doing a CT scan of her pancreas in the morning. I am concerned about her prognosis at this point. If things don't improve dramatically after the stint replacement on Monday, this might be her last stay.

Friday, Feb 6, 2009

No good news this time ... only bad! Judy jaundiced again yesterday and by the time she called the cancer clinic, her oncologist had left for home. The nurse gave Judy the option of either going to the ER immediately or going to the cancer clinic the next day. Since nights in the hospital are not much fun, Judy opted for the cancer clinic today.

By the time she was able to get up and get dressed (and make a short stop at the chiropractor's in route), it was early afternoon before we arrived at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. By the time we got there, Judy was feeling so ill and in so much pain from her abdomen and back that they had to put her on Morphine to settle her down .... a first time, but most likely not a last time.

Judy's bilirubin count was 9, a very high number, and her abdomen was filled with fluid. The oncologist thought that the problems were likely being caused by a blocked biliary duct, and so arranged for the surgeon to replace her temporary, plastic bile duct stint with a larger, metal (and permanent) stint on Monday, which they hope will be less problematic. They only use the metal stints when the life expectancy is less than a year. (At this rate I doubt that Judy will last nearly that long.)

Judy was hospitalized and will likely remain in the hospital until after the stint relplacement on Monday. They have already done an ultrasound on her abdomen and found a considerable amount of accumulated fluid. In the morning they plan to bring the ultrasound machine back and try and drain the abdomen. They will then culture the fluid, to determine how to treat it.

During the weekend they plan on doing considerable additional testing, including a MRI to determine if they can see the tumors that she thinks she feels in her abdomen.

We probably won't know the outcome of all this until mid-week next week.

Thursday, January 30, 2009

Well, good news and bad news again. Judy has had a lot of trouble with fever spikes during the night, usually around mid-night. When she got in touch with her oncologist, she was told that she thought it was probably "tumor fevers". Apparently when the tumors die and are flushed into the kidneys they clog things up and cause infections, etc. So the dying tumors sound encouraging, but the fever spikes are taken quite seriously and can be fatal. They put her on two tablets of Aleve, twice a day to help control the tumor fevers. Its too early to tell if this will work, or if it will be just one more pill that she has a hard time taking because she is feeling so poorly.

Unfortunatley, last night Judy had the worst night ever. She was up every hour or two most of the night, feeling quite ill and often accompanied by fevers. She got up this morning and ate a little then went back to bed.

Aunt Bunny has been coming over every few days and helping Judy go through the boxes that she never got around to unpacking. They have gotten through most of them, have organized the basement storage and are wanting to get into the boxes of pictures and sort them out. That will start the process of writing Judy's life history, with a full compliment of pictures (and perhaps even a few videos for the DVD version).

Looks like we are going to have to cancel our cruise and try again later, if at all. She is scheduled to see her oncologist again on Feb 17th. We are again anxious to see the reading for her tumor maker.

Saturday, Jan 24, 2009

Judy had her monthly appointment earlier this week with Dr Buys, her oncologist. It was one of those good news/bad news deals. I asked the oncologist if she had reconsidered her prognosis of Judy lately. She thought a moment and said that Judy had actually deteriorated more slowly than she had expected, so she thought that was good news. However, when Judy began explaining her new symptom (numbness in her left chin and jaw) the nurse said that it, combined with her unmanageable nausea indicated a possible brain tumor. She went into the neurosciences new MRI unit this afternoon for another brain scan, this time with a more powerful imaging machine. We won't know the results until sometime next week. A brain tumor was one of the ways that the oncologist had told us that Judy might succumb.

They also put her on a new medication (Reglan) to help her bowels move the food through and perhaps decrease the nausea. She went on it and it did get rid of most of the nausea, but it caused sever stomach bloating and pain. They then instructed her to half the Reglan and start taking GasX to control the bloating. That combination seems to work pretty well.

Judy got quite sick last night around 8:00 PM. We had Brother Miller, from across the street, come in and help give her a blessing. He blessed her that the fever would be taken from her and that she would know Heavenly Father's will concerning her situation. By midnight her fever was gone and she felt much better! As far as I know, the balance of the blessing has not yet been granted.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Well, Judy ended up in the hospital last week trying to get her blocked bile duct unblocked. They put her on IV antibiotics overnight and the jaundice, the fevers and the pain all stopped by the next morning. They toyed with replacing the stint right away, but ultimately decided to wait until the end of her 3 months to do it. That would have been on Jan 26. The surgeon was already just way over committed.

However, they called back mid-week and said they had decided to move it up and so they rescheduled her for yesterday morning at 6 am. I really dislike those early morning surgery appointments. They are so hard on both Judy and me.

The surgery went very well and we got home about noon. Judy had a good rest in the afternoon and we were actually able to go to our Ward Temple Night last night. One of the sisters in the Ward (Sister Mordecai, who I have home taught for many months now) took her under wing and helped her throughout the evening. She did really well!

On the way home we stopped at Cafe Rio and picked up some soup and salad and she was able to eat a larger than normal portion of that. However, she has lost a lot of weight this last year, dropping from 220 lbs to 160 lbs. She now looks like an emaciated little old lady. She is little more than skin and bones. She looses 1-3 lbs per week. She just has little appetite, and when she does eat it often comes back up. The Ward is really good about bringing food in, but she just doesn't eat much. She often feels too nauseated to eat!

Perhaps today will be a better day!

Thursday, January 8th

The liver ultra sounds did not show anything to be alarmed about. Judy is scheduled to next see the oncologist on Jan 20th and have her bile duct stint replaced on Jan 26th. However, this schedule will probably have to be advanced, as she is turning yellow again. She had a fairly good day a few days ago, but has since been in bed most of the time, including most of the day today.