Consult with Radiation Doc

Unfortunately the weekend wasn't great.  It started on Friday.  We found out that the cancer has spread to mom's brain.  Once again, we knew this was a strong possibility but it's still very shocking and disappointing to hear the actual words.  We were hoping and praying that the results would show that the cancer hadn't spread.   I think we were all feeling a little negative, it just kinda felt like we aren't catching any breaks here!

Saturday, Sunday and Monday, mom was not feeling well at all.  Low blood pressure, extreme fatigue and nausea.  She felt so bad that she cancelled the procedure to have the access port put in.

On Monday night she started to feel better and developed a craving for Chinese Food.  On Tuesday she felt a little better still.  Her blood pressure came back up and she was able to be up and about a little more.  Tuesday night she had a hankering for Taco Bell.  I'm sensing I might be making a few food runs in the near future!  The thing with Chemo is, that some days you might not be able to eat at all and other days you will want to eat everything in sight.  You have to make the best of the good days after all!

Today, we met with Dr. D., the radiation doc.  Obviously the news that the cancer has spread to the news is not good but he still feels optimistic that the cancer will respond to treatment.  There is not really a cure for this type of cancer - treatment is meant as a way to prolong life.  He did not want to go into specifics as far as expected life expectancy because he said that every patient responds differently.   He said the average is about 18 months.

Although we all know that anything can happen at anytime, it's very shocking to hear a time limit put on someone's life.  Especially someone you love. Mom has handled the news with a lot of dignity and grace.  She is amazingly strong.

So the plan at the moment is to continue chemotherapy as scheduled.  She will start radiation to the brain in the next day or two.  They don't like to do radiation on two areas at once, so since the chemo is treating her lungs, they are postponing radiation to the lungs for the time being.  This course of radiation will be approximately three weeks.

Our day ended on a good note though.  It was a beautiful day today!  Mom had mentioned that she thought her nails looked bad because she hadn't filed or painted them in a while.  I drove her to a local nail salon and treated her to a manicure and pedicure.  She had never had a pedicure before and LOVED it!  This particular salon has massage chairs, so she got a nice back massage while she got her feet done.  ( I may have created a monster with this whole pedicure thing!)

So keep praying and keep sending those positive thoughts her way.  And if you would like to drop her a card in the mail, that would totally make her day!