March 7 2014

With heavy hearts we said goodbye to my beautiful Mom. She always stayed positive! She is meeting her Maker and will be perfectly healthy now and forever. I am thankful for the peace, knowing there is so much more for her. God is so good!

Iris Anne Giesbrecht
September 13, 1953 – March 7, 2014
Iris:...
The coloured part of the eye
A poetic word for rainbow
A flower
Our wife, mother, grandmother, friend
God’s Child
Iris' family regretfully announce her peaceful
passing on March 7th, 2014. She had a short
battle with cancer and is now in a better place.
She will be remembered for loving, caring
and blessing others and her joyous laugh. She
was very kind and always put everyone else
first. Her famous saying was "let's go make
memories". She was the picture taking queen.
She dedicated her life to her family and had
great compassion that extended far beyond.
Always a woman of strong faith, she raised
her children and grandchildren with the same
dedication to God. She will be greatly missed
by her husband, Menno Giesbrecht; her
daughters, Tara-Lynn (Rod) Ollerhead and
their children Jaden and Noah, Kelly-Anne
(Ken) Bodvarson and their children Emma
and Jacob; and her sister Meryl (Jack) Anema
and their son Jason (Laura) Anema and their
daughter Jasmine; as well as extended family
and friends. Donations can be made to The
Rock Church-Bibleville (Box 7875 Stn Main,
Saskatoon S7K 4R5). A Celebration of Life
will be held at Elim Church (419 Slimmon
Rd) on Wednesday, March 12th at
2:00 p.m. Arrangements in care of -
MOURNING GLORY FUNERAL SERVICES
(306-978-5200) www.mourningglory.ca
C 9 2 9 9 6 9

My Wonderful Mom!!!

 
 









It's been a really emotional few days. I thought I would share with friends and family from my blog since it’s really hard talking to people at this time. In December my parents called me (I was in California at the time) to tell me they just found out my Mom had kidney cancer. There was a large tumor, and some of the cancer had spread to the lungs. The surgeon was confident she would be able to remove the tumor and kidney without any rupture. So, my Mom being the strong woman she is asked if she is okay to travel because the whole family is going to California for Christmas. The surgeon said it was fine and they scheduled the removal as soon as they could.

When my Mom got to California she was so exhilarated! She said several times, this Christmas is for family, this is the best Christmas we’ve had. She said I still can’t believe I have cancer but I’ll think about the future when our Christmas time is over. I still can’t believe the energy she had!

My family left on Jan 2 to drive back home. Everything was perfect with my Mom! On January 5 my Dad and sister took her to the hospital because basically her brain wasn’t telling her body what to do, no strength, confusion etc… She was in the California hospital till she arrived at University hospital Jan 12. She was moved to St. Pauls to have her surgery.

The surgery was a success. She started being able to walk around and things looked really good but the same episode happened again, and this time worse as it took her awhile to be able to eat on her own. We couldn’t get any more answers, as they just kept telling us it’s the surgery recovery etc… Finally she was transferred to University Hospital. Dr’s did tests and couldn’t find anything.
They started her on chemo pills. Then we had an amazing Dr. take over her case and he was relentless, telling us he’s going to get to the bottom of this and that Iris is a special case. He found some cancer on her spine. They immediately did radiation on that area. She had good parts of the day and not so good parts, but she never complained about it! One day she felt so good she even asked me to get a day pass to leave.

On Feb 26 my Mom started to be unresponsive. She couldn’t talk, she couldn’t move, she would try and answer questions with blinks and grunts. The Dr. took her off the chemo pills and said he’d start them again when she’s responsive because there is something else going on here. Dr’s took every sort of test. Each day she was a little less responsive.

On March 2 we got the worst news from the Dr.  her organs were starting to shut down, her lungs are collapsing, slow pulse and worst of all her kidney isn’t working to eliminate the toxins. He said these toxins are in her bloodstream and they are attaching themselves to her nerves and muscles. This Dr. who had so much hope and confidence in Mom’s recovery just told us that there is nothing they can do.
This brings us to where we are at currently. We do not know what God’s plans are. I pray healing and restoration for her but I also know that it’s God’s plan, We have the peace and comfort of knowing she will be in Heaven and we will see her soon!

  My Mom has and is such a blessing to so many people! Me especially! We have been blessed as a family to have such a positive, encouraging, woman of God who has impacted our lives in so many ways!