Decisions decisions

Well, not really too much of a decision.

My mom, Jen, and I all met with Dr.Smith, her oncologist today. He was to the point and made no bones about laying out our options, or lack thereof. My mom has lung cancer that has metastasized to the liver and the adrenal glands. It is also in lymph nodes. It has made its rounds in the body and set up shop in some vital areas. Dr. Smith said that it is small-cell cancer, which means it is more apt to travel around the body via the bloodstream, but also responds better to chemotherapy than non-small cell cancer. So if that can be considered good news, I guess we'll take it.

We were told that without chemotherapy, mom has about 3 months as the cancer is more advanced than we initially thought. With chemotherapy, and there is no guarantee that it will work, she was told 9-12 months, maybe longer. Dr. Smith assured her that 2 years would be the max. My mind is focusing on tomorrow. That is when mom starts chemo. She was all set to face this without any kind of treatment having been told by another physician that her body wouldn't be able to handle it. Dr. Smith, in telling her that chemo was the only way to any kind of extended (meaning beyond 3 months) life expectancy, made her decision rather easy. The first round of chemo is the hardest on the body according to the Doc.

Jen and I stayed at the hospital until 11:00 tonight. My mom was full of life, full of smiles, and full of smarty-pants comments. In other words, she was herself. She was truly enjoying herself as much as one can in a hospital bed. We all had a nice visit and look forward to doing it again after this initial round of chemo.

So tomorrow morning (Saturday) we start a new chapter of life. One that will hopefully result in giving mom a longer life than she could have previously hoped for. Please pray if that is what you do. Send positive vibes among the cosmos if that is what you do. Whatever it is you do, please do it for Nora and her friends and family. She needs all the support and love you have to offer.


pat