08/21/2024
With much sadness, the Dragon regrets to announce the passing of Paula Shannon Sargent. The following message is from Diana Shannon, Paulaβs sister, writing from Paula's FB account:
"I am so sorry to inform you that Paula died after an eight-week intensive fight against metastatic breast cancer, stage 4. I was by her side the entire time, advocating for her treatment which ended with three weeks in the ICU at Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon, NH.
Paula had lobular breast cancer which can be difficult to detect with mammograms and ultrasound. MRI can be the only way to diagnose as there may not be a lump. She had gone into the hospital, initially complaining of an inability to keep food down. By the time of diagnosis, she had metastasis in her liver and bones. It was really significant and widespread. For example, CT scans revealed more breast cancer (in her liver) than normal liver cells. Still, oncology had given her a 50% of an additional 3-5 years, maybe longer, as she had a very treatable type of tumor -- hormone and HER2 positive. As you know, she had beaten the odds once before, she wanted to try again.
She won a lot of small victories while in the hospital but lost the overall war. She beat sepsis as well as a couple scary blood clots. She overcame a very rare case of chylothorax, where lymph fluid leaks into the pleural cavity. She got through one scary period of respiratory failure. She had even aspirated while eating, but recovered fully from that as well. Still, over time, the toxins continued to build up because her liver was so dysfunctional. It was beginning to affect her neurologically, and it was clear she was suffering. It became aware that she would not survive the very early stages of treatment, a mere two weeks on hormone therapy.
Paula died on Saturday at a lovely palliative care facility on the Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical campus. While there, we could roll her bed onto a balcony off her room, so she could be outside looking out into the woods and breathe fresh air. I just wanted didn't want her to die in a hospital, especially the ICU.
She will be cremated and likely be buried in the Shannon plot in Newton Falls, OH where our Dad and his family are buried. We don't know yet about any other services, but we are still working on her obituary and other arrangements.
Paula was one of a kind and we will all truly miss her."
