Cancer

Randomness:

* This month marks 2 years since Mom’s cancer was diagnosed. She’s still kickin'.

* I’m going to try and blog much more. Facebook’s great. Twitter’s great. Sometimes, though, I just can’t hear myself think in there. Blogging’s much more composition and reflection.

* I’ve learned to say ‘No’. I’ve de-committed some things at church. Whitney and I have worked out some ways to get time for ourselves: Every other Saturday morning, we get ‘Off’. The opposite parent takes the kids, no questions asked. It’s still a work in progress, but I like where it’s going.

Quite a busy weekend…I’m expecting to crash sometime today around 10am, actually.

High & Lowlights:

• Friday, Whitney tore a ligament in her right arm. Best quote from that belongs to her doctor: “I can either tell you you’ve got a torn ligament, or I can take X-Rays and tell you you’ve got a torn ligament.” So, she’s on restricted duty for a couple of weeks.

• Praise report: Mom’s CT scan came back clean…the doctor said she was doing fine and had no indications of cancer almost a year after her surgery. Woohoo!!

In October, my Mom had nearly inoperable Liver Cancer throughout her torso–liver, right lung, and diaphragm.

As of Friday, March 7th, after radical resection surgery and 2 months of treatment, her PET scan showed she was fine.

To the prayer warriors from Ashland to Louisville, for the thousands who heard mom’s story on WLJC TV from Beattyville, and to those who sent encouragement through this blog, email, and in person, my thanks.

Happily, Mom didn’t have chemo on Friday.

Her oncologist looked at the results of her PET scan and said the surgeon was full of it.

She doesn’t have ASC, she has CCC, Cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the bile duct that is fairly rare (1-2 cases / 100,000 ppl), but which is curable through surgery. Mom had surgery, and there’s no evidence the cancer had spread through her lymphatic system.

The short answer: Prognosis is much better than with ASC. Surgical resection allows for a cure, and follow-up radiation shows good results. Mom’s scheduled intensive, local radiation 5 days a week for the next 5 weeks, and an oral chemotherapy tablet after that. Her hair probably won’t fall out.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers as I’ve shared about Mom’s sickness. I’ve not posted more, out of deference to her, and simply because we didn’t know much.

Mom had surgery on Halloween, but didn’t get any follow-up on pathology results until 2 weeks later, November 16th. That day, we went into the Transplant Clinic at UK Hospital (!) to get some results. I won’t go into it fully here, but it’s a rare hybrid of two cancers of the liver itself. They said to set-up an appointment with Oncologists as soon as she felt better.

So, on the 16th, I sat with my Mom at the Transplant clinic of the UK hospital to get the lowdown on her cancer. The room was on the 4th floor, off the ‘B’ elevators, and the atmosphere was grim. The people here had been or would be very sick, and most had a thousand yard stare, wishing they or their loved-one was anywhere but in that waiting room.

Except, that is, for my Uncle Dan.

Spoke with Mom this morning…she’s resting at home, and letting Dad and my Aunt Norie take care of her, which makes me smile. She’s taken care of so many people her whole life…thanks to everyone who’s written-in and keep up those prayers. I heard from Stu and Cathy that churches throughout the Louisville area are praying for Mom – neighbors of theirs and their prayer groups. She goes in Friday for the lowdown on where things are and what the next steps are.

From Daniel 3 (KJV):

16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

18But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

Mom slept pretty well last night, and is finally cleared for some solid foods. Everything is working in her digestive system, and they seem to be managing her pain well. She was resting comfortably (for the first time in 6 days) last night, according to my aunt.

* * *

Well, today is election day, or “The day the democrats take back the keys to the cesspit.” Getting anything done in this state is akin to the intrigues of Lorenzo de Medici’s Florence…everything is a political game. Fletcher went into the governor’s mansions naively thinking he could undo centuries of entitlements and pork.

I’m trying to find the words to describe how awful yesterday was…Dad is devestated, we’re all in shock…

First, the good news: When they got in there, they saw what they were dealing with, and the surgeon considered stopping the operation. He didn’t. He did not give up hope on Mom; that’s about the best news I can hold onto right now.

The facts of it: She had a tumor invading the right lobe of her liver, her diaphragm, and the bottom of her right lung. They did an initial analysis on the lymph nodes in her chest and they came back clear, so they went forward, removing 40% of her liver, 20% of that lung, and removing/reconstructing her diaphragm. The surgery took 6 hours, and involved 3 surgeons. They considered stopping the surgery several times, but didn’t.

My mom’s having surgery tomorrow morning. Preliminary indications are the ’thing’ on her liver (they switch from calling it a lesion or a tumor every other time.) isn’t cancer. She still has one more test to undergo tonight, then she is “top of the list” for surgery tomorrow at UK.

I just spoke with her, and she seems a little tired and on some pain meds, but she doesn’t seem scared.

Thanks to all of you who’ve written offering prayers and well-wishes for Mom. She’s out of the hospital as of last Friday, but she’s going back tomorrow for further tests. What they think they know isn’t awful, but it will require more surgery.

She’s in pain, but she doesn’t seem too concerned (typical Mom, in other words!)

Please keep her in your prayers.

There are days where I want to rename this blog “Tragedy and trials du jour”

So Mom’s back in the hospital for tests…she has some sort of “lesion” on her liver. She just had her gallbladder out back in July, but had continued pain during her recovery.

I’d really like to list the litany of crap that’s going on in my life right now, but that’s not going to do me much good. I feel like an over-saturated sponge (appropriate, considering), and I’ve lost the ability to internalize anything.

First things first–thanks for the well-wishes! Mom’s doing okay–she had gallbladder surgery July 20th, and sailed through with flying colors.

We embarked on our vacation, and I’ll be writing several updates to go with that, but to summarize: Eight days with no computer, and barely any traveling in the car were awesome. The drive down there and back with two small kids was not so great. Didn’t get too sunburned.

My mom is in the hospital, awaiting surgery today at 11 am. It’s just a gallbladder removal–simple, laproscopic, and routine. I’m still uneasy–the pain she’s been having doesn’t add-up to just gallbladder problems.

If all goes well with that, I’m headed out on vacation tomorrow, 654 miles to the Atlantic Seaboard, namely Holden Beach, North Carolina. I pray we all stay safe and that all goes well with Mom’s surgery.

God be with you L-Squared. You’ll be in my prayers each day. Good luck in your fight to stay with us in God’s Eden, and know that your attitude edifies my heart and brings a tear to my eye.

Peace be with you.