Dear Friends: I am very sad to say that my Mom, Jane Kane McLain, passed away in Methodist Hospital in the Texas Medical Center of pneumonia secondary to Ocular Pharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy on Saturday afternoon, September 26. She was 75 years old. She did not want a formal funeral. Per her wishes, she will be buried following an intimate family graveside service in her hometown of Rockport, Texas on Monday, She will be placed in the Kane family plot of Rockport Cemetary between her father and her grandfather on Monday, September 28 at 2pm. On Tuesday, September 29, there will be a family visitation time tentatively planned in one of the parlor rooms at The Woodlands United Methodist Church on Lake Woodlands Drive (exact room and time yet to be confirmed.) We have asked for 7pm to 8:30pm. In lieu of flowers, Mom wanted to help find a cure for Muscular Dystrophy. It is ironic that she became a "Jerry's Kid" at age 75, but because the symptoms of this rare type of Muscular Dystrophy don't severely manifest until later in life, the research into it has just begun in the last decade or so. I you would like to donate, here is a website honoring mom with a direct link to the Muscular Dystroply Association: The site is http://janemclain.muchloved.com. You can add pics, memories, leave a message for the family, etc. Feel free to make a donation in Mom's name to the General MD Research or, if you want to specify funds for OPMD research, select OCULARPHARYNGEAL MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY under the category "I would like my gift to support:" If you wish to mail condolences, please send to: Jim McLain 24931 Hickory Hills Spring, TX 77380 Those are the basic details. Here is a synopsis of events if you would like more detail: Many of you know, my mom, Jane McLain, has been struggling with her health since Hurricane Ike. Due to the stress of the damage to their house, mom began severely losing weight and strength as they cleaned up from the tree that came through the roof and had no electricity for over 3 weeks. She has had swallowing problems for the last 15 years or so, but just always said, "it just runs in the family" and never mentioned it to any doctors. In November of 2008, when she became so weak from losing weight after the hurricane cleanup, we began to try to find out what could be done to help her. It was then that we discovered her ever-worsening "family swallowing problem" as well as her weakening voice and slurring speech was actually rather advanced Ocular Pharyngeal Muscular Dystrophy. She had almost completely lost the ability to swallow. After placing a feeding tube in December, she improved from January to August, gaining from 77 pounds to a whopping 94 pounds. She was so proud!! At Easter she and Dad traveled to Pennsylvania to see where Katy now lives, works and plays.. In May, she got to watch Tim's daughter, Gabby, in her first dance recital, and celebrate Ruth’s 40th birthday with Tim and Matthew, and the last weekend in August, the entire family traveled Gene and Mary’s house in Rockport for a weekend gathering to celebrate my birthday and begin my month-long vacation from Qatar. So she didn't let OPMD slow her down very much! After returning from Rockport she began to feel weak and her coughing increased dramatically. On September 14, she entered the hospital with aspiration pneumonia, and we transferred her to Methodist in the Texas Medical Center on Wednesday, Sept 23 because that is where her Muscular Dystrophy specialists are. She worked hard to beat it, but on Saturday afternoon, September 26, it was determined that her lungs had suffered too much damage from the pneumonia to survive. Her wishes were that she never be placed on a ventilator and kept alive artificially. When it was determined that she could no longer breathe on her own, my dad and I made the tough decision to honor her wishes and let her go naturally. With Dad and me by her side, she passed away peacefully just moments after taking her off of the BiPap machine that was assisting her breathing all Friday night. She was responsive and communicating (mostly in writing as her voice was extremely weak) until we had to place her on the BiPAP breathing machine late Friday night. She responded very slightly to a doctor early Saturday morning, but soon after became unresponsive. She was very "with it" until Saturday morning. I feel so lucky and blessed that I was able to spend every moment of her hospitalization by her side as I was off all of September and home from Qatar where I have been working. We shared many precious moments with lots of laughs, and even though she felt like crap most of the time, we could still get her eyes to sparkle and her mouth to turn up into a little smile at least a couple of times a day. She was her usual angelic self throughout...always thinking of others...making sure I got Katy's birthday card in the mail on time and asking if I slept well or had eaten. Talking was a real struggle for her the last week, but even so, she always made it a point to eeek out or mouth the words "thank you" to everyone who came in to help, especially the cleaning crew who she always felt didn't get enough appreciation. She was quite the fan favorite of the hospital staff. She ran the show the entire time. I was just her voice. She was strong willed and opinionated until the very end and I am thankful that when she got so very critical, that she passed quickly and peacefully. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. She isn't entirely gone, as her strength lives on through her kids and her grand kids. She has just received a promotion to guardian angel. A job I know she will do with as much joy as she always did being dad's wife, our mother, and Katy, Gabby, Matthew and Lucritia's "Nana." She was a kind and generous lady to everyone and everything with a special kindness for animals and children always. She will be greatly missed beyond words to everyone who knew her. She was a Christian and never doubted that she was headed to heaven. I know heaven has a new helper now. I just hope she takes some time to enjoy her just rewards there. But she will probably still try to find someone to take care of as helping others was always her greatest joy. Sincerely, Jessica Halter