Maria J. Jensen Memorial Scholarship

Our family is proud to announce the creation of the Maria J. Jensen Memorial Scholarship at Waukesha County Technical College. The scholarship honors Maria’s enthusiasm for learning, her dedication to success, and her wish to inspire other women to improve themselves through education, no matter what stage of life they are in.

Women over the age of 35 who have financial need and a GPA of 2.0 will be eligible to receive $250 per semester in direct financial support.

Maria enjoyed her time at WCTC so much. She decided to return to school in her 50s to study accounting because she always loved mathematics and handling our family’s finances and investing. During her time at WCTC, she formed strong relationships with her teachers and mentors and forged friendships with students in her classes, even those many years younger than her. She carried a 4.0 GPA in her classes and was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, an achievement we know made her proud for the rest of her life. We have vivid memories of her nights of studying at the dining room table, poring over her notes and textbooks in preparation for her class meetings.

We are grateful to WCTC for the impact it had on Maria’s life and her self-esteem and hope that through this scholarship, we are able to inspire more women to succeed both in education and in the fulfillment of their goals. Thank you for helping us honor her memory and her passion.

To support the scholarship through an online donation, visit this page. Scroll down to “Named Scholarship” and click “Donate.” A new window or tab for PayPal will open. Enter the amount you’d like to give and click “Update Total.” You may be asked to log into PayPal at this point. Once you’ve made it to the “Review Your Donation” page, click on the link that says “Add special instructions to the seller.” Enter “Maria J. Jensen Memorial Fund” in the box that appears and click ahead to complete your transaction.

If you’d prefer to send a check, you can make it payable to “Maria J. Jensen Memorial Fund—WCTC Foundation” and send it to WCTC Foundation, Room C-213, 800 Main St, Pewaukee, WI 53072.

In Memoriam

Although Maria made amazing progress with her fight against cancer, we are sad to update this blog with the news of her passing.

Maria Jensen, 67, died June 24 in Sun City West. She was born December 24, 1943, in Bornem, Belgium, moving to the United States at age 9. Her family settled in St. Clair Shores, MI, where she attended high school.

In 1962, she worked at the Seattle World’s Fair, where she helped introduce the Belgian waffle to the American public, including Elvis Presley.

Maria worked as a secretary for the automotive industry until she married her husband Don in 1964. The pair lived in Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Maria was active in her community by helping to found an athletic booster club for the high school her three sons attended. She received an Associate’s Degree in Accounting from Waukesha County Technical College in 1997 at age 54.

Don and Maria retired to Arizona in 2004 to be closer to family. In the Corte Bella community near Sun City West, she was an accomplished cook, active golfer, and was passionate about fitness, greeting card making, and spending time with her many friends there.

She is survived by her husband Don; her mother Caroline; her brother Henri (Fran); her sons Gary (Diane), Dennis (Velvet), and Charles (Beau); and her grandchildren Sophie and Ben.

A memorial gathering for friends will be held in November.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor her memory can send donations to “WCTC Foundation for the Maria J. Jensen Memorial Fund” at Waukesha County Technical College, Room C-213, 800 Main St, Pewaukee, WI 53072.

GREAT NEWS

I passed all three specimen tests for the C-Def. It's very difficult to get rid of. Talk to anyone who has been in the hospital on 24 hour antibiotics.

Now I'm able to have a couple of friends in once in a while. I've lost the art of conversation since
I've been "sequestered" for so long.

Our son, Charlie has moved here from D.C., actually he's moving to the U of A area as soon as he finds a place in Tucson.

I'm keeping it short so I can get this good news out to everyone.

Playing Catch up again

When I saw my primary doctor to discuss the high heart rate and the disappointing response from from the stool sample, she made two changes: she doubled my beta blocker for the heart rate and put me on an intense 14 day drug regime to hopefully get rid of that horrible infection in my intestines. I still have a week to go on the infection drug and another week after that before I can test the stool sample.

It's with a big smile on my face that I say the high heart rate is finally down below 100 so we've progress on that. It's so nice NOT to feel like I'm constantly running a race. It also tired me out.

I called my Pulmonary specialist because both my home nurse and my primary doctor found a place by my right lower lung that was suspect and the first thing I had to do was a chest X-ray for the doctor to examine. She called me the next day to say I had to make an immediate appointment at the hospital for an urgent fluid drainage on the left lung area. I may have told you last time they drained my (right) lung area it wasn't at all painful. This time it was just the opposite. They took a liter off and it was very painful. At one point they suspected that the lung was collapsing on the bottom so I had to stay at the hospital for hours in case they had to do surgery. They X-rayed and had it read by a the radiation doctor each time. Finally hours later and 2 more X-rays the hospital released me.

I've been feeling a little better every day since coming home. The drug for the intestine infection does take the edge off my appetite but I try to clean my plate knowing that it does me more good.

Dennis is coming for Easter weekend and we're looking forward to that. He'll be surprised by the heat since he was here last. It does seem like it came early this year. Whatever the heat we'll have a great time while he's here.

Some News

I called my primary doctor to get the results of the stool specimen and received some disappointing news. I still have the infection. I have an appointment to see her in a couple of days so she'll discuss the best treatment then. I also have to talk with her about my high heart rate which has been 110 for the last 4 weeks. Gary will be going to my appointment with me and will take notes so we'll know what was discussed.

I also received a call from the trial doctor's office and they're wondering if I'm interested in getting in the cancer drug trial that he discussed with me on my last visit. I told them the sad news about the infection and also the heart rate and said I would discuss if it was a good idea to start the trial with my primary doctor and call them back.

I do worry about my lung cancer not being in any kind of treatment but at the same time I can't see how I can handle any side effects.

Hope the news gets better when I post again.

April 1 post

Lately the posting on the blog has been negative news which I hope will soon change. The latest thing is that I caught that flu that keeps you running to the bathroom from both sides with horrible cramps which I was treated to during the night. I feel a little better each day but now I'm contagious and had to cancel some lunch plans that I was looking forward to. I planned to make more lunch plans before this latest ailment hit but didn't have a chance once it did.

For the last three weeks my heart rate has stayed at 110 even on the medication so I have an appointment with my primary doctor to look into changing the dosage or something. With my heart rate that high I feel like I'm running all day long and it wears me out.

We need to get all these things healed so I can look into a lung cancer treatment. I haven't been in treatment since I entered the hospital for the pneumonia in January and it's April already. I wish the cancer just got bored from lack of attention and just left. Now that's something to pray for.

Thanks to all for all the cards that still cheer me up every day. Let's hope I'll soon be able to see you all in person.

While I was in the hospital as well as once I was home being treated with antibiotics for the pneumonia the stage was being set for my next problem. It was an infection in my intestines because all the working bacteria had been killed by the antibiotics.

The first prescription for that problem caused a another serious problem so I had to stop using it. That was okay with me because those pills made me feel under the weather. I was able to get a new more expensive prescription and so far it's not causing any of the problems the first prescription did.

Our visit with Charlie worked was wonderful. Charlie was able to spend every day with us because he invited his friends to get together on the same evening. I thought that was a wonderful way to see everyone. Don drove him to the airport at 4 a.m. on Friday.

Dennis, our middle son, will be coming in a few days. He comes more often but can only stay a few days. Velvet may be coming in the day after he arrives if she's over that 10 day nasty cold that's been going around. We're hoping they'll both be here.

I still have lots of accounting type work ahead of me. I need to gather all my tax papers so I'll be busy with that for the next few days.

Thank you to all of you who left messages on my answering machine. I made a pact with myself to focus what little energy I have on Charlie since he lives so far away and hasn't been able to get to Arizona for a long time. Please understand talking takes lung power and mine is in short supply.