The Passing of Janice Bowe
By her son Michael Bowe.

First please excuse the broad strokes of this "mass message" as I have gotten an overwhelming number of messages, emails, phone calls and inquiries about the status of my Mother Janice Bowe's health and I wanted to address everyone at once without missing anyone. I will be posting this on her Facebook page, sending this to some of you directly, also putting it also on the Nothing but Scotties Facebook Group she ran and also on Janice's art website Pipersmama.com so I cover all the bases. Also, please forgive the length of this message and the rambling to an extent as I am also just processing all of this and it is rough.

So, for those of you that don't know my Mother Janice Bowe AKA Pipers Mama AKA Ma Bowe has been dealing with and fighting various health conditions for the past year+. From problems from our genetic disorder Ehlers Danlos syndrome to the recent development of two massive DVT's in both her legs, to a lipoma she had developed under her left arm which recently and rapidly grew at an alarming rate causing her great pain and discomfort, it's no understatement to say she has been dealing with a lot. I have been trying to update her friends and our family as much as possible via online and also to get prayer support for her but things have deteriorated quite quickly in the past five days. On Monday November 23rd, the night before she was supposed to meet with a surgical oncologist at Fox Chase this lipoma became unbearable and unmanageable. It was at this point we took her to Jeans Emergency room which is connected to Fox Chase Cancer and hope to move the ball forward. At this time, she and I were trying to get this mass that was now the size of a bowling ball removed and then figure out a course of treatment after that. If they could get this mass handled then we could go from there. There was one thing she was very definite and clear on, that she was not going to go conventional chemotherapy and radiation what she referred to as "slash and burn" treatment. We had witness the devastating results from so many people given conventional therapy there was no way she would do that. Yes, there is a small percentage of patients that it does work on kind of that goes into recession for a small period of time, it was just something that she was not going to do, or want to do and I cannot blame her, in fact I feel the exact same way and back her plan. Additionally, for those of you who know us my father, her husband George who was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer that metastasized to his brain, had a similar situation. In 2003, we were told at the time from a reputable hospital in Pennsylvania that this tumor in his brain was inoperable and we would have to start chemo and radiation to shrink the size before anything. We did not want to go conventional again and we did not settle with that assessment so my sister was able to contact the head of neurosurgery at Sloan Kettering for a second opinion. He was on the operating table 2 days later and they removed the tumor perfectly. From there we chose to use a non-conventional cancer therapy called IPT which stands for Insulin potentiation therapy which greatly increased his life spanned far past his diagnosed lifespan, also it didn't affect his quality of life, meaning no hair loss (well no more than normal) and no sickness in fact he work till the week he died from complications due to a steroid that was used during the brain surgery to reduce swelling and scarring that effected a different unconnected wound that was not closing properly. At the end of the day, upon a pet scan right before the above-mentioned incident he had no cancer in his body!

That was pretty much the game plan we had for my Mom, to have this growth that could be or might not be cancer removed and then if it was, to seek un conventional treatment combined with a raw fed diet to beat it. After so much research this was her wishes, unfortunately things did not go as planned. On November 23rd like previously stated things went bad fast. We jumped in the car and as per the suggestions of Fox Chase Cancer hospital took her to Jeans (Temple) Hospital emergency room to get her out of pain but more so to get her stabilized over night to get her to Fox Chase which is directly next to Jeans and talk about getting this mass removed. In fact, they share a surgical unit and a bunch of other assets to my understanding. Once there this became problematic as the emergency room was packed, and normally since 2003 I have been able to stand by my Mother side and be a bulldog advocate for her health. No one treats my Mother without talking with me, at this time because of Covid I was forced to wait in the parking lot. At this point I started to write updates on my Mother's Scottish terrier group "Nothing but Scotties" were many of her friends communicate and on my own social media accounts to rally all of our combined born-again prayer warriors to rally behind my Mom! She and I had a chance to read a TON of so many peoples responses and she and I are so thankful for all the prayers and love generated! None of us were going to go without a fight, and like the song says it was time to "get on your knees and fight like a man"

From there we got her transferred into Fox Chase and at first it was all good and stable. Mom even sent me a great picture of herself with a pony tail that one of nurses put in for her. She hated pictures of herself but for some reason she was really happy with this one.

Then the next day we didn't hear from anyone and again because of Covid we weren't allowed to be there her or I would have been there. We figured she was giving us a break or something, that's the kind of person she is, always worried about us not herself! Well unfortunately things proceeded to have ups and downs as different problems would arise and be treated over that week from the mass rupturing a blood vessel needing surgery so she didn't bleed out, to a surgical team who almost didn't get there in time. On top of that a Catscan with contrast to map the bleeding that may have cause her kidneys damage but was necessary, it was one thing after another but still we were in the fight and rolling with the punches. The great news was that the surgical team did get there on time and the surgery was a huge success! All seemed right again!

Then on Sunday I got the call from her doctor that basically informed us that at this stage the mass was too large, they didn't even have a biopsy back yet but if they were to try to remove it, the procedure would do far more damage than fix. It was in the chest wall and now even in some parts of the lung. They were going to talk to medical oncology but just like surgical oncology it was probably not in the cards. Even conventional therapy which my Mom already was adamantly against would probably kill her. They asked me if my Mother had a DNR or living will and they would continue to treat her and see if she rallied regardless. I already had a good idea of my Mothers wishes, that she was completely against being put on machines to live. The idea of being unconscious, plugged into a machine to breath for you forever, or pump your heart as you sit and rot sounded like a nightmare to us. When my Father was in hospice for going septic there was a gentleman in the room next to us who was on full life support. No one visited him all the times we came to see my Father. We were told then that this man was in a motorcycle accident after coming back from serving in the military. He had received a head wound and was now in a coma but was being kept alive by machines, and had been for 60+ years. He had no family living and in PA apparently at the time it was incredibly hard to take him off the life support without the family consent. So, there he was, in a bed his whole life, yes alive by all definition but not conscious. We at that time felt so bad for him and were horrified but that idea that could happen to someone. Still I wanted to be 100% sure so I also contacted a few of Mom's close Christian friends who I knew shared the exact same mind set as her and they agreed. Now on top of that when I arrived at Fox Chase that morning Mom was really out of it in pain, but they were lessening her meds in the hopes I could ask her just to make sure. So once there and being with her for a bit she was still nonverbal, but she could nod her head a bit, and she could look around and sort of force herself to communicate. I said "Hi Mom, the surgery was a huge success but they are worried that if anything else goes bad, if they can't also address it and in the rare case you might need to be connect to life support do you want to be?" At that moment, she started shaking her head over and over no as to say NO NO NO NO! I said are you sure, do you understand and she shook her head yes, a few moments later she let us know she was in a lot of pain so they put her pain meds back up. It was crystal clear what she wanted and what to do from there but again we still prepared to fight for her, if she could rally.

Then on Monday, she was worse, she was completely nonverbal, her eyes were closed and non-responsive and her blood levels started to show things were changing. Her kidneys were shutting down and her blood levels were all becoming a concern. We know my Moms a fighter so we ask to wait to make a decision until the next round of testing, she wasn't in pain but we just had to see a real drop to make sure. Well we got it, by just before 3:00 PM every test outcome showed a decline. After the one more test to see if she was rallying, we had to make the hard choice to move her to hospice to make her comfortable. At this point her body was failing and she was nonverbal, with no real communication response I can mention but it was clear she was there, listening and relieved. As we were waiting for the last test results when we were debating what to do, you could feel tension from her almost asking us to let her go. I can't explain it. There was definitely a consciousness. I can tell you too from praying the Holy Spirit was all around her, almost felt like an army of angels there, you could feel she was not worried in the least, no fear because she knew a room in our Fathers house had already been prepared for her and she was going home to be with the Lord and my Father. She has been suffering a lot longer than anyone knows because she kept a lot it of between her and Jesus, praying for the Rapture any time, well she gets to go first before the rest of us living believers!

She was moved to hospice sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 PM just after my sister had to go back home, we were both there since 10:30 AM and she has young children. She was prepared to come back next morning but just in case she said her goodbyes the.

From 4:00 PM I sat with Mom in her new room in the Fox Chase Hospice department. Sitting bed side, playing some of her favorite Christian music we listen to all the time at the house. Playing it loud and I was holding her hand, singing (badly mind you) tapping her hand with my thumb. She was not in any pain at this point, and she was still listening. At our home, we tend to put on Music Choice contemporary Christian station on the TV's all the time, it's nice and the puppies like it. We had built a playlist from a lot of songs on there and from the KLove Radio App for our iPhone and iPad and often listened to it when I would drive her around to whatever, shopping, errands, the vet, to my sisters, you name it wherever she needed to go. She sang far better than me, but would deny it to this day. Funny side story, any time she would sing in the house, Rory our Scotty / Westie hybrid would get super excited, wagging his tail so fast and he would get up as close to her face to listen to her wagging all the way. We would joke that He was her biggest fan and he even had all her albums and one of her tour t-shirts. So, we had a good revival right there in the hospice room. I would often stop between songs, and pray with her, letting her know how much I love her, her daughter loves her, her grand kids love her, her puppies love her but most importantly that Jesus loves her also that it would be ok to rest if she wanted too, but if she wanted to put up a fight that's OK too we would get her back and go another 9 rounds. I was still holding out for a miracle not wanting to give up but I figured if Jesus wanted to he could work a miracle at any time, even in hospice, it was in His hands, but it, all of it always has been. A Bible verse kept coming out of nowhere in my head, which is very odd for me, I don't normally do that but for some reason John 14:2 which if your unfamiliar is:

"My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?"

I said this out loud and you could feel she already knew. Knowing my Mother, she was more concerned with me, and why I was still there waiting, like "go home already Mike!" So, we sang, we prayed and I talked about how hard life and this sort of situation must be for people who don't have Jesus and again there was an undeniable feeling the Holy Spirit was in the room with us. She was leaning back in the bed, out of pain. Every once in a while, I would use this sponge on a stick thing and place some water in her mouth on her lips, just to give her moisture, her mouth was open while she slept but that was nothing new, she slept like that at home sometimes. She would react to that well so I did it often. It got to be about 8 PM and I had to home go to feed the dogs, because it is my sworn duty to take care of her two fur babies. So, I left as the weather was very bad, lots of rain and debris on the road from the storm we had earlier. Interesting side note before I left when we just moved her to her hospice room on the first floor we had a nice window to the atrium courtyard. It was dark now but we could see the lightning flashing and hear rolls of thunder in the distance, and the heavy rain coming down we could hear which I have to tell you that both of us love! There is nothing like sleeping during a heavy rain, something about it ionizes the air or something but we both love it so it made for her to have some good sleep. It was almost like Jesus prepared the room for my Mom's comfort, and brought the things she likes to rest to into action just for her right then and there.

So, I got home, fed the woofs, filled my huge travel thermos with some fresh coffee from, put on some deodorant, brushed my teeth and got back on the road to be with Mom. I arrived back around 11:30 PM, and at this stage she was still sleeping but her head was sort of to the side that looked painful. I called in the nurse to help move her head and body so she could be more comfortable. The area where this mass was located was so painful she opened her eyes briefly and gave a "ouch" moan and looked at me right in my eyes as I rushed to her, and told her it was ok, we just had to fix her position to get her more comfortable and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Her eyes closed, and her one pillow was behind her head and other to the left side of her face where she could now comfortably snuggle her head into the pillow and rest like she does at home. Now her eyes were more closed, she was not in any pain and her mouth was closed sound asleep like a baby. She was in a deep sleep and knowing we both sleep better with music on I put back on the iTunes playlist. I also took the super warm snuggly red fuzzy Scottie dog bathrobe and she brought with her and covered her with it so make sure she was warm and comfy. I then pulled up the chair to the bed, her right side, put my left arm under hers and held her hand as she slept. It was about 12:30 AM now as I recall and we were just singing and praying. Odd enough I too nodded off right in that chair holding Moms hand he whole time, I just wanted to make sure she knew she wasn't alone, she knew she wasn't, and it's not me being there I am talking about here. I finally woke up at 4:15 AM Moms hand still in mine. She was sleeping like a baby still, her breathing a bit more relaxed too. The nurse came in at that time, asked me how I liked my nap and took Moms vitals. Then shortly after a different orderly came in and did her job, both super nice people. When they left I was standing up looking at how peaceful my Mom looked. My Mom is so beautiful to me as a person across the board and she looked so peaceful so I decided to take a little video of her sleeping and snuggling away to share with my sister because Mom didn't look that peaceful when she was there. Sometimes people can look a bit shocking in the hospital situation but now she looks so comfy and peaceful. I filmed a 2 minutes video of her, sleeping away, she was still breathing but it was now a bit shallower. I stopped the recording and when back to holding her hand, I just again reiterated to her how good of a Mother she is, how we would all be fine, that her daughter would be fine and her puppies would be well taken care of. I told her I could feel the Holy Spirit all around and it was OK for her to go if she needed too. I thanked her for literally bring both myself and my father to the point where we could be saved! Sure, Jesus saved us 100% but if not for Him using my Mother to bring us to Him it never would have happened. I have been saved since 13 but strayed far away in my walk of life and in the past 4 years have become a very different man then the excuse of the man I once was. I owe that all to her and the Lord! I love my Father too very much, don't get me wrong but he was one tough project as well, a retired NY cop with a pretension to smoking 2 packs a day and drinking 12 cups of coffee with 5 spoonsful of sugar in each. He was a great man, lost him in 2003 but he could be a prickly pear if you know what I mean. If not for my Mom we would never have found Christ! I let her know how much we all loved her, all her Christian friends, her "Nothing but Scotties" family she had created out of thin air that is now a huge internet message group on Facebook nationwide with over eight thousand active members, how she had helped so many on this group with the help of her friends too, and helped rescue so many woofs getting them good homes and networking. I also adding what an amazing artist she is, which many of you know from her artwork, some from her past and some from her web site. That she has accomplished so much in this life, while continuing to play it all down, so humble. She had been fighting so long and so hard she was so exhausted for some time, I just wanted to make sure she knew she was beloved by so many and especially the Lord and if she needed to go we would fully understand, we would be alright, we would miss her massively but I was secure in the fact I would see her again soon! While doing this I was at her right side, on my knees bedside, saying these things and prayer out loud with her while still holding her right hand. As I opened my eyes to see her face I could see she was no longer breathing, her eyes were closed as was her mouth, she looked so peaceful, so at rest, so comfortable so secure in going home to be with Jesus. Looking at her I could only fathom what she was now seeing, being with Jesus for the first time, she was with my Father too and she was finally home! This was at 5:41 AM or as close to it as I can tell, only six minutes before I stopped filming her, like she waited to get her close up before she left. I'm just kidding. I stayed on my knees, held her hand for a little long. continued to pray and thank Jesus, because for believers, this is not the end, in fact it's the beginning, and its coming to a great reward, of that I am sure down to my every cell! A few minutes past as the attending nurse came in to check her pain pump, it was clear what had transpired and she went to get the doctor on the floor. At 6:09 AM Janice Lynn Bowe, my Mother, my friend, AKA Pipers Mama on the web pages, credited as Ma Bowe in a bunch of band's album thank you lists and liner notes, was no longer on this earth but home with the Lord Jesus Christ!


A few more things to know, at no time was my Mother scared, or concerned. In fact, if anything she was more worried about me, our family and the puppies. She had not an iota of doubt in her faith in Jesus. Even as she was non-responsive verbally she was so at peace, and I think she knew for some time, sands Rapture or a miracle this is very possible the way she would go home. But that is something only a believer would understand, the assurance that this world and its time here is so short to that of the next, to Gods promise of everlasting life for those who accepted Christ as their savior! Her faith is so strong when we would talk and some of the things she would was of epic proportions of faith if that makes sense. There was no fear, no doubt only concern for everyone else, a trait that I think my Mom possibly invented!

As I type this I am in tears, I love my Father, I'm not trying to take anything away from his loss but losing my Mother is hard and so bitter sweet. I am so happy and I rejoice fully knowing I will see her again in heaven, that she is with Christ and my Father now, that she is out of pain and that she is no longer under the poison that is the sin in this world! I praise Jesus for this and it brings a massive comfort and calming over me. On the flip side of this is the pain that I will not have her in my life for a short period of time. People who know me or have known me know that I am a Mama's boy, that when my Father died in 2003 I swore to him on his death bed that I would take care of Mom and he was safe to go. Truth be told, it was she who took care of me for! Even knowing now that I can't ask her a simple question like "What do you want for Dinner" or "You want another cup of coffee?" which is the official beverage of the Bowe family, hurts! In the past seventeen years, she has become so much more than just my Mom which is a massive thing in itself. She has become a friend, a sounding board, the voice of reason and even my support system so much so that I can't even fathom at this point life without her. But in hindsight I know I will, I promised her I would take care of her fur babies, her home she made for us and them and to keep close to I can help my sister if and when she needs it, family is family! Yes, it still hurts but I have to say as a believer I rejoice with tear in my eye that I know my Mother is with the Lord and I will surely see her again in a much better way and a much better place! I know deep down that very best is yet to come!

In closing I just want to thank you all for the support, the prayers and everything. It meant the world to my Mom. She wanted me to tell the full story to all to hopefully be a good testimony about her faith in Christ. Because of our faith that we share she did not want a funeral or anything of that nature. She also chose to be cremated as this body is nothing more than a shell. There some talks of possibly having a celebration gathering in her honor sometime post Covid but that is uncertain at this time hence why I will be putting up a memorial website for her, like a digital gathering in her memory. If we do decide on some sort of celebration dinner we will surely let everyone know. In addition to the care of her wonderful Fur babies Rory and River who I think know and understand about Mom's passing.


I will continue to monitor her Nothing but Scotties Facebook Group, I mean after all I am a Scottie owner as well and have been for quite some time. I'd like to think I know how she would like it run the same as it has been. I also will continue to run her art website PipersMama for her, and not to sound like I'm turning this into a commercial for her artwork but I've been asked about it from a bunch of you so I thought it important to address. Just know if anything is purchased that money will go to the benefit of her two fur babies Rory and River. A puppy "trust fund" as it were (AKA A envelope of money in my desk in case something goes wrong with either the two puppies or in case they just need some new toys!) I will also be memorializing her Facebook page where I will be posting this message up there as well so I don't miss informing anyone, I've gotten an overwhelming number of messages concerned about my Mother Janice, I thought this was the best way to address you all and once. Last but not least is the future of my Mothers ashes, and just like my Fathers ashes where we planted his with that year's Christmas tree in our yard, Janice's ashes will be added to this year's new Christmas tree which will plant close to my Fathers! I really wasn't planning on getting a tree for our house for this year, now It just seems fitting and we all think she would like that!

One of Janice's favorite Bible quotes she wanted me to share with you all:

Psalm 30:11-12 (NIV): You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.