I knew that my mom had an appointment today. I didn't realize that they would end up getting the dates switched around, and to their benefit!
My father brought my mom to the surgeon today only to find out that their appointment was for tomorrow. They took her anyway, and my dad came away with some of her records :) I can't wait to look through them. I had asked to see her CT scan, but no one had time to show me in the hospital. According to her records, the tumor was 65mm's. That converts to 2.55905 inches. (My dad told me it was 24". Little different...) The doctor did saw that it was the size of a baseball, and when he had shown me in the hospital he made it look like the size of a potatoe. It is still considered stage 2, which the oncologist told them today. She is scheduled to go in for a PET scan on Sept. 12. After the scan she will go back and they will determine a more definite course of action, but for now it looks like they may only want to do radiation to the abdominal wall. They say that generally chemo isn't successful (or necessary) for her type of cancer, and radiation alone will likely give her a 70% chance of survival for a ten year stretch. Given that she will be 72 in October, I'd say that's pretty darn good. She may be bird thin but my dad is working on getting her well nourished again, and she does seem to be holding up VERY well. Also, the surgeon took her staples out today! She was so excited to be able to sit on the floor again- and be able to get back up! This means no more nightly bandage changes. That alone is a huge relief to them both. And she said that the scar looks great. She sounds so good every night when I talk to her. It's such a change from the woman who didn't place much value to her own life.
I remembered one thing that I forgot to post the other night. She's never been able to sleep well, and she almost never remembers her dreams. She's had two dreams that stick in her head. The first she told me about last week, and I loved it. She said that she was in a store, and someone was pinching her butt. She eventually realized that it was a little boy. She was very annoyed, and she started to yell at him. A priest came out of nowhere and told her that she wasn't being very nice. Her answer? "I was told yesterday that I have cancer, and now everything is different." To me, that was a very emotional, raw moment. Like the confrontation of death while living as told in a dream. To me, it was also a moment for hope and happiness, because I believe that it means that she's ready to fight. Honestly, this is a HUGE relief. I truly thought that we would have to fight her every step of the way to get treatment. I thought that it may be too late by the time she decided she was ready. That's why I was so thrilled that she allowed me to take her to the ER that night. She wasn't gone yet!
If you want to be inspired, if you want to learn how to be a great person, take lessons from the people around you; choose to be in the company of great people. I am blessed enough to have many of those types of people in my life. Between my family, my husband's family, (you know who you are!) some of my coworkers, and my friends, I am very blessed to have great company, and people that inspire me. My mommy is one.
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