The latest

Earlier this week mom and I met with Dr. Smith to find out how her cancer is behaving. It turns out that she does have cancer in the bone, but it has been there all along. She has small-cell cancer which is aggressive and spreads rapidly throughout the body. We have known this, but the focus has been on her organs - liver, lungs, lymph nodes - not the bone.

Mom had some pain from what she thought was pulled muscles in her back a couple months ago which led up to her having a spinal MRI and PET scan. She was very afraid, and rightfully so, that the cancer was in the bone (and in her mind that signals the final stages of her battle). Well, as I said before, cancer is in the bone but it doesn't appear to be rapidly multiplying and spreading. Her cancer is throughout her body, but she is still feeling very good. The doctor said that how she feels is a better indicator about her cancer than anything a scan can show.

While the idea that cancer is in the bone is scary, this battle is a one day at a time deal and right now, mom is feeling good. She has energy, a good spirit, and the willingess to continue fighting. Mom will be having CT scans every 3-4 weeks to track the cancer and I will continue to update as necessary. School has been taking most of my time and I apologize for not getting this up earlier, but time has been getting away from me lately. I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to hearing from you.

Pat