A little background knowledge

Marjorie Jean Hayles was born January 20, 1950, in St. Mary's Hospital, to Alvin and Marliee Hayles in Rochester, Minnesota. She enjoyed a fun-filled childhood in Rochester with her two sisters, Mary, the oldest and Marsha, the youngest. Marjorie graduated from Mayo High School 1968. She went to the University of Minnesota, where she got her degree in Parks and Recreation (some of you may have heard that she went to school with Dave Winfield-if you know who that is). Marj married Joe Pingatore at the Plumber House in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1975. From that marriage she had three daughters, Sarah, Martha, and Laura. Interestingly, Sarah was born in St. Mary's Hospital as well. Marj spent the first part of her children's lives as a stay at home mom and watching a few other children. When the children had grown older and after a divorce, Marj went back to school to get her degree in school psychology. She graduated with a masters+hours (don't forget those added hours ;-)) from the University of River Falls in Wisconsin.
Marj moved between Rochester and St. Paul a couple times in her life, but made a major move to Arizona in the fall of 1993, to pursue her career as a school psychologist. She has worked for the Apache Junction School District since this move.

Health Background-
Marj was diagnosed with breast cancer November of 2008. She had a mastectomy in January of 2009. She had two surgeries after the mastectomy, one being a reconstruction and the other to remove a build up of scar tissue. She did not pursue any further treatment, but was given a clean bill of health, cancer free! Marj did begin to have some stomach issues in April or May of 2010. These pains came and went and were checked out by physicians. She continued to be given a clean bill of health and was told to change her diet. Some days were better than others, but she did change her eating habits.

Now...how we got here.

Marilee Hayles, Marj's mother, began to decline in health in August of 2010. Marj was given the news that her mother did not have much longer to live and that she needed to return to Rochester, Minnesota to be with her. Marj left Arizona on September 11. Upon arrival in Minnesota, it was not long before her mother's health quickly declined and was given days to live. The Hayles' sisters came together to be with their mother. While here in Minnesota, Marj's stomach pains continued and hit a head on Sunday, September 19. Her sisters commanded her to the hospital and off they went. You can note here the reason St. Mary's Hospital was noted and important above because that is where she went. So, upon entering the emergency room at St. Mary's Hospital, they had her back in their care before her sister could even park the car. Marj then spent the next week and a day going through test after test after test. They finally decided to do exploratory surgery and was scheduled for Tuesday, September 28. The surgery was expected to last anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on what they found. The surgery took about an hour and a half. Hearing the surgery only took an hour and half did cause all to pause, but not to worry. In hindsight, as her sister said, "We should have known that after a week and a half of being in a world renowned medical facility, with no answers, that it wasn't going to be as simple as a blockage in her colon!" And boy was she right!!
On Tuesday afternoon with her sister Marsha by her side, Marj was given the news that she had terminal cancer. During the surgery, the reason it took such a short time was because it was very easy to see that cancer was everywhere in her gut (as she calls it) and that there was not any salvageable tissues. Marsha said, "I was shocked by the news, but was inspired by her remarkable dignity and strength." Marj noted that she felt like there was something major wrong and did not feel surprised by the news. That afternoon the doctors said she was looking at 4-6months.
Tuesday overnight- As the devastating news was making its rounds and working to sink in, further devastating news was given. Through the night, Marj was unable to keep her blood pressure up. She was told that she needed to go to the ICU. Marj's sister received a phone call saying she was off to the ICU. A half hour later, she received another phone call that Marj was refusing ICU and any further measures. It was determined that if it was internal bleeding they would not be able to fix it and if she went into the ICU it would just be medications that would only prolong the inevitable. A phone call was quickly made to her daughters, as directed by the doctor, for them to come as quickly as possible because we were looking at days. It was thought that the surgery damaged her kidneys. A dnr was enacted.

Whew...quite a lengthy background. Everyone was fooled into reading this based on the title saying, "a little background knowledge."