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I am a |
In case anyone remembered…
Mom had her pericardium drained two days ago. There was almost a quart of excess fluid in it!! She spent the night on Tuesday and by noon on Wednesday the drs. sent her home. She sooo wanted to be back in her own bed. I don’t blame her one bit.
No word yet on how the cancer is doing/not doing.
[How appropriate, I found this article today on MSNBC]
I had some unsettling news about my mother last night. She has been going through a fourth or fifth round of chemo the last two months. The Drs. ordered a CT scan to see the progress/regress of the cancer in her chest/lung. The scan revealed that there is fluid build-up around her heart and inconclusive results on the cancer.
Dad said he felt like he had been hit between the eyes. He had noticed Mom was slowing down and was more breathless than usual. Nothing out of the ordinary for somebody on chemo. So the Drs. are checking her blood markers again to see if the cancer is indeed more active or less. They also have a consult with a surgeon they had known previously to talk about what to do about the fluid.
As with the ways of Aspies, I can hardly tell how I’m feeling right now. Its like sadness and hurting all tangled up. My mind says…”Hey, you’ve been through almost 4 years of this battle…suck it up and be a support to your parents!” Then my heart says, “Just because I’ve seen BOTH of my parents nearly die in the last four years does not make this phase any easier!!”
Yeah, I’m pretty scared right now…not in a selfish way. Its that fear-of-the-unknown that gets me low.
Talked with Dad last night and learned that my mother needs another round on what I call “Diet Chemo”, which is only once every three weeks. She will start on it after Resurrection Day. I can’t honestly remember if this is her 4th or 5th round of chemotherapy. Yes, it has been that much!
The nature of her cancer (bronchoalveolor carcinoma or BAC) is rather unique. It is more common in women, though rare over all, but becoming less so as Drs. perk up to the diagnostic criteria. Many women (including my mother) are not diagnosed until the later stages (like 3 or 4) when surgery is no longer an option. She was misdiagnosed as having chronic bronchitis and pneumonia twice before seeing a pulmonologist.
The tumor has not spread outside of her chest cavity, nor are there any more lymph nodes involved. It is just there, growing slowly or shrinking slowly. That is all the Drs. can do for her…manage the cancer. She had a great year last year, after bounding back and “graduating” from hospice care. So life continues, in a sort of limited limbo.
Please, if you are a woman, over the age of 35 and you have been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis more than once in a year, demand to see a specialist. Get a simple blood test, short name CA markers, to see if you have cancer. Don’t let it slip, especially if you have been on any hormone therapy or the Pill, which raise the risk factors for this type of cancer.
[Update, Tuesday: Yep, I'm sick. at home. with fever. and sore throat! We'll hear back about all of the tests on Wednesday. The Dr. likes to sit his patients down and discuss the results instead of giving them out piecemeal.]
Sitting here at work and feeling queesy. I might be sick or I might be nervous about my mom. She is going in for some scans today to check her cancer tumors.
For those new to the blog: My mom has been battling lung cancer (NON-smoking related) for over three years. She had a good season from last summer until after the holidays. The blood tests, however, were showing the cancer markers tick upwards, hence the scans. This time last year, we weren’t sure she would be living in a few months. So God has been gracious in giving us more time.
You know, we’ve been through this roller-coaster so often, I shouldn’t get so worked up about what might happen. Explain that to my stomach.
I’d like to share with you all about my mother’s battle with lung cancer. Its not something I broadcast loudly or wear advocacy pins for because most people assume lung cancer equals smoking. 23% of diagnosed cases are not smoking-related. My mother was one of those cases.
Over two and a half years ago, she received this news after nearly a year of bouncing around doctors for pneumonia treatments. She has Bronchio-Avelialor Carcinoma, or BAC. This is normally seen in those with exposure to industrial chemicals. I don’t want to speculate, but I think being a housewife for 36 years might have counted as that! (One reason I use natural cleaners and non-scented everything.)
She has had 3 rounds of chemotherapy and 1 round of radiation. This past winter, she took seriously ill with fluid building up in her chest. The surgeons drained it and found more cancer outside her lung in the chest cavity. They advised hospice care, which is only given to those with 6 months or less to live. My mom is a very stubborn and well-loved lady! She “graduated” from hospice last month and is now able to care for herself and drive short distances.
I am sharing this with you so you can pray for her and for us. We’ve been abundantly blessed through this process from famil, friends, and the church. My mother’s name is Barbara and she is 58 years young. She has a PET scan on June 11 to check on the status of the cancer and see if there are any treatment options open. The doctors, as always in situations like this one, are baffled at how she has lived this long. Yes, my mom is a believer and will go to be with Jesus when the time comes, but we’d like that time to be later than sooner.
