#1 The Saga Begins It began Friday, June 6th, when my primary doctor called at 10:30 am, reporting that a recent ultrasound image of my aching gut, and analysis of multiple vials of my blood indicated something was outta whack and needed further investigation. It was suggested – no – I was told to go...Continue reading→

#2 I conferred with Dr. M. Hernandez at UNM Hospital in ABQ this morning at 11am. M. Kennelly agreed to be with me, and to take notes. It was the second time I had met with him – the surgeon who will be performing The Whipple Procedure on my innards, August 14, 2025. I have...Continue reading→

#3 I've been WHIPPLIZED! The Whipple Procedure is an abdominal surgery of extraordinary delicacy and complexity. The mechanics of surgery were left to my surgeon, very well trained in the procedure, with an artistic way of explanation including excellent drawings he would make to help this visual learner. The physical recovery from having gone 'under...Continue reading→

HOME!!!!! Jane Ellen Burke drove me home from UNM Hospital in ABQ on Tuesday, August 19th.  If, for some reason, we had been stopped by the cops, I may have been suspected of being a druggie!  Needle tracks and puncture spots were visible all up and down both arms. And I was definitely under the...Continue reading→

#5 SLOW AS RUST….. That’s how this setback arrived…a slow, low-grade fever and night sweats!  And then I saw it!  It finally dawned on me – this is NOT going in the direction I should be going! I won’t bore you with all the details of combating an infection, many of which are responsible for...Continue reading→

#6 It was not a complete surprise It was not a complete surprise – finding pancreatic cancer cells in the lymph nodes, removed during my Whipple procedure, August 14, 2025.  But because they had not shown up on the CT scan done prior to surgery, I gambled the elusive little boogers would not be there....Continue reading→

#7 The last line from SAGA #6 was... The last line from SAGA #6 was…”We live, we die. That’s just how it is. “ What I neglected to tell y’all, was that my death is not imminent. People hear the word ‘Hospice’ and think, “about to happen now”. Not true. Think Jimmy Carter! I look...Continue reading→

#8 CANCER STINKS! After my return home from the first ER visit, hospital stay, and gastro procedure to unblock a bile duct back in June (see SAGA’ It Begins’), I couldn’t wait to take a shower and wash the ‘hospital smell’ off my body. But that smell lingered in my nose. It was a distinctive...Continue reading→

#9 There’s a mango in my kitchen fruit bowl. It’s been there for over a week. Since living in the tropics many years ago, I’ve loved tropical fruits. But this one little yellow mango – not like the big fat ones – but the ones shaped like a cashew crescent – has not yet appealed...Continue reading→

#10 I am feelin’ GOOD! I have gone for weeks now without any physical reminder that I have a terminal condition! I have had NO pain. I am feelin’ GOOD! That happened sometime between now and my last SAGA, when my dying from cancer became boring. So much so, I began to forget about my...Continue reading→

#11 The Five Rs: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle! What does this slogan of sustainability have to do with the life of a terminal cancer patient who is a sculptor?  Not much. Except for one of those words - REPURPOSE.  I’m referring to the practice of repurposing marble or marble sculptures. What does marble or...Continue reading→

#12 WHO AM I? During the past six months, dealing with the medical community, I have been called Terrisa Mabrey. It gives me a ‘start’ when I hear that name called in the waiting room. Until I was 30 years old, I was known to family and friends by that name. Then a change. When...Continue reading→

#13 ‘THE TIME HAS COME,’ the Walrus said... ‘THE TIME HAS COME,’ the Walrus said,’ to talk of many things: of shoes and ships – and sealing wax…and whether pigs have wings.’ That nonsense was a line spoken by the Walrus in Alice in Wonderland to some little oysters, lured from their bed to go...Continue reading→

#15 What should I wear? Should I put my face on? Do I wear shoes, or not?  Sandals or Closed toe? I suppose it doesn’t matter in the long run. I’m just glad for the “good death” I will have experienced, free of pain and suffering, given to me through Hospice and M.A.I.D. The temperature...Continue reading→