Bucket List Cancer Victim on CBS Early Show Tomorrow 10/9 at 8am

I am sharing this story with you because many on my list are Healthcare Leaders who are showing this story on their Hospital, Rehab, Skilled Care & Hospice Units... if you wish to be excluded from these updates please reply & I will delete your name from the list. If you know of others that would find Susie's message of "Carpe Diem!" inspiring, please Pass It On!

Last month September 11th, 2009, Susie Mann was first televised with Maggie Rodriguez of the CBS Early Show. The interview introduces you to a Grandmother's reaction to the diagnosis of Stage 4 Stomach cancer. Susie Mann decided NOT to be treated with Chemo or Radiation... she had the courage to say NO to the curative medical community. Instead, she chose to ENJOY the moments of "FEELING WELL" for as long as she is able! At the age of 79yo mother of 4 & grandmother of 4 decided to hop on a journey of Bucket List adventures with her family!

On August 1st; Susie & 30 family/friends went Hang Gliding in the Catskills (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/11/earlyshow/main5302918.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea)
September 17th, 2009; Mom went Sky diving with her family & friends (including her paraplegic grandson) in Cape Canaveral... to be aired 8am tomorrow 10/11 @ 8a
October 17th, 2009; Susie will be swimming with Dolphins in St Augustine
November 24th; she will be spending Thanksgiving Hot Air Ballooning & Helicoptering in Sedona & the Grand Canyon.

Susie/Grandy (Mother of a C-3 quadriplegic) simply counts the muscles she has versus the ones she doesn't & "MOVES ON". After the interview on 9/11; Mom walked around NYC & listened to the City mourn the losses from the fallen World Trade Center. Her comment was; "It's amazing how many people just don't know HOW to 'Move On'... they are stuck in the pain of their own struggle against ADVERSITY" ... I believe, once you've been hit hard; you pick all the pieces... figure out how to use them all to your advantage... and start taking steps FORWARD to the Light at the end of the Tunnel... even if you can't SEE the Light... you must BELIEVE there is a LIGHT.

This past month has been scary for all of us. We were told that Mom's acute Shortness of Breath was due to Blood Clots forming in her Lungs. Imminently, we were told that the Clots would suffocate her. She in all likelihood would not live to swim with the Dolphins! We were advised to STOP the Bucket List & get into a Hospice immediately! We were told that Mom's Lungs could not withstand the water pressure in the Dolphin swim nor the air pressure changes in the Grand Canyon!
when I shared the physician's concern about her deteriorating physical condition with Mom, "Lions & Tigers & Bears... o My!!"
her response was...
"No swimming with the Dolphins on my Bucket List? No Grand Canyon or Sedona? Absolutely NOT! You Dear Doctor; are NOT the Boss of me! I will get to the MOMENT at the aquarium. When it is my turn to swim ... I will see how I feel then & not before!" So rather than stay under the covers & cancel plans, we decided to MOVE On & "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" with our Bucket List.

Since her Sky Diving escapade, we have results of CAT Scans, Echocardiograms, VQ scans to determine exactly what is going on in Mom's Lungs that is causing her inability to breathe upon exertion. We have discovered that Mom is NOT suffocating from Blebs, Blood Clots or spreading cancer to the lungs. In fact her cancer has NOT spread AT ALL! She is not a candidate for Hospice because her July diagnosis of 6-9 months in all likelihood will be 12 months! So we are thinking of MORE Bucket List Adventures for her to focus on! and who knows... with all this positive energy around her... it could be more!

Oh! you want to know why Mom can't breathe? it's NOT cancer at all... it's her HEART! In February this year, Mom had a triple bypass, aortic valve & pacemaker replacement. We think one of her arteries is not functioning as well as it should & for that she is prescribed a Nitroglycerin patch every day! I am sooo glad Mom stays focused on the Positive... because, this respectful RN would have listened to the Doctors, enrolled in Hospice, pulled the covers over my head & counted the days until I died! certainly NO Dolphins, Sedona or Grand Canyon!

Between Susie's new Mobility Scooter & her increased blood flow from the heart... this family can't keep up with her! we are well on the road to a Bucket List Adventure a MONTH!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts, prayers, cards & words of support! YOU have truly carried this family to the NEXT Bucket List Adventure!!

If you feel well... stay in the moment... if not; MOVE ON!

In any case, Carpe Diem!!
follow the Bucket List through our website: www.AccessNursing.com