Funeral Arrangements

Visitation (Vermeulen Funeral Home, 46401 W. Ann Arbor Rd., Plymouth, MI)

Wednesday 12/29 5-6 pm (Family only); 6-9 pm (open)
Thursday 12/30 2-9 pm (open); Rosary at time TBD

Mass & Funeral (Our Lady of Good Counsel church, North Territorial at Beck Rd., Plymouth, MI)

Friday 12/31: in state 10 a.m.; Mass 10:30 a.m. Funeral at Knollwood Memorial Cemetery (in the chapel) to follow. Return to OLGC for luncheon afterward.

Memorial contributions may be made to PBJ Outreach, Inc. Jeanette was very involved in PBJ for many years and supported their mission of feeding the homeless and underserved of downtown Detroit (see pbjoutreach.org for details.)

Jeanette Kappe 1968-2010

She's gone.

Jeanette passed away at 1:15 Tuesday morning due to respiratory failure as a complication of her fight with cancer. Funeral arrangements at OLGC still TBD.

Thank you all for your ongoing prayers and support.



Mark

Monday, December 27, 2010

Hello again, everyone.

Jeanette remains at Angela Hospice, where they have taken very good care of her thus far. She has become comatose and unresponsive except for the occasional mumble or movement, and we have been advised that it won't be long now. The family is maintaining a 24-hour vigil at her side; I usually get the night shift. Our idea is that she shouldn't be alone when she crosses over, although we don't know exactly when that will be.

My thanks to everyone who contributed in any way to the boys' Christmas-- you helped us turn lemons into lemonade and they're in good spirits.

Regards,
Mark

Officially in Hospice

Thanks to a number of folks at Angela Hospice working hard to pave the way, Jeanette was transferred there this morning (12/22.) We hope that they will be able to keep her comfortable as we go through this final stage of the journey.

Please contact Mark if you wish to arrange to visit her. Visiting hours are 24/7 but Jeanette isn't really capable of conversations at this point and it would really just be a brief hello and goodbye. I would absolutely not recommend children visit, either, as it may be uncomfortable for them (it was uncomfortable for Jesse, who is 16, and I haven't even tried with Michael.)

Thanks as always for everything all of you have done for us.

mark

Sunday December 19, 2010

Mark here, blogging from the ER at St. Mary Mercy where Jeanette was just admitted after another seizure. She's being admitted and is unlikely to return home again as she's now in hospice care.

More info when it's available.

Mark

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

Jeanette was readmitted to Oakwood hospital Monday afternoon with probable dehydration after constant nausea prevented her from keeping much food or drink down. They've administered an IV and her fluid levels are improving. She'll likely stay there at least a few days.

The ambulance ride was no fun as we drove past dozens of spin-outs on the frozen freeways. Great job by the Oakwood HealthLink EMT guys.

More info as it becomes available.

Thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers!
Mark

Saturday, December 12th, 2010

Great news... Jeanette's back home!

Having recovered from surgery, the docs saw no further reason to keep her there. We will still need to return every weekday for 2 weeks for daily radiation therapy-- and that's going to make her hair fall out again--but we're just happy to have her home.

Please call before visiting. We need to limit visitation but of course Nette wants to see everyone as best she can.

Thanks to everyone for your continued well-wishes, prayers and deliveries of pasta. :)

Mark

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Hello, all, Mark writing again. Happy holidays.

Jeanette has had a couple surgeries over the last week and a half to deal with a problem of fluid building up in her brain. The surgeries have been successful and she has been transferred out of ICU to a normal bed in the hospital.

She is, however, still enduring a lot of pain and on a lot of meds. We're just looking at this point to keep her as pain-free as possible.

I can provide more detail for those who are interested via the new email address, thekappefamily (at sign) gmail.com. I'll try to be prompt.

Thanks to all of you for your outpouring of good wishes and prayers, they help a lot.

Mark