Hello, All,
It’s been about a month since my
last update and certainly time for another. Foremost, thanks to those who have
been so supportive of my mom and her caregivers. This journey has been a
personal Everest.
Last night mom shared with me
how much in awe she is that she has touched as many lives as she has for all
the love she is receiving from so many. Isn’t that what life is all about? Hers
has certainly been charmed and one very well lived in that department.
My heart is a little heavy as I
continue to write this. We’ve had a very challenging week. Mom went in for her
follow up oncology consult on Wednesday. Based on her blood labs she had become
anemic. She ended up being at SCCA from 8 AM until after 9 PM that day, and
from 2 PM until after 9 PM Thursday for more lab work and infusions. She had to
return again Friday and was at the center from 8 AM to just after noon. Today
she is having two GI procedures done and has had to follow a preparatory
fasting schedule for the past few days, which to me seems counter intuitive as
she’s been so focused on maintaining a healthy weight.
Friday her oncologist opined
while her current treatment is working, it is not working as effectively as he
would like to see. New scans have indicated possibly some slight growth of the
tumors. Thus Dr. Martins thinks this treatment may have run its course. You can
imagine how discouraging this news has been to my mom and those closest to her.
Dr. Martins offered two other
treatment options. The first being conventional chemotherapy. The other is a
trial cancer-fighting drug that has shown a lot of promise in effectively treating
this disease both in breast and lung cancer patients.
Like the first drug, the one mom
is currently taking daily, this clinical trial requires a certain genetic
mutation in the tumor to be present. There is a 50/50 chance it is. We
anticipate receiving test results in the coming week. It’s the anticipation of
such results that really gets to my mom, understandably. Likely not how she
anticipated starting off the holidays.
Despite the recent ups and
downs, my mom is doing remarkably well. Her energy is good. She feels better,
especially since the infusions. As soon as she has recovered from today’s
procedures, we’ll get right to work again on her nutrition. I still see quite a
lot of determination in her, which is excellent.
We are also much closer to
having her and Al settled here in their own place. Her Coeur d’Alene home sold
quickly, and we’re anticipating an early January closing on it. I was also able
to find them an ideal place about 10 minutes from Terry and I in a lovely 55+
community near the shores of Puget Sound. We’re aiming to close the purchase
just ahead of her sale so we only have to have the movers out once. Both she
and Al are very excited about this community as well as having a new place to
call home close to relatives and loved ones. This prospect has really helped
lift mom’s spirits, Al’s too, giving them something to look forward to and be
excited about.
Again, we appreciate so much
being in your wonderful thoughts and prayers. I am optimistic we’ll have many
better days on the horizon, and I look forward to sharing them with you soon.
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