my life has been on hold for the past several days as we all were waiting for tests, hearing news, praying to God for strength and healing, watching my mom struggle for each breath, watching my dad hurting inside not knowing how to save his high school sweetheart, tears were shed, countless hours spent on the phone to family and friends, and sleepless nights at the hospital. five short days after we found out my mom had cancer in her lungs, she ended up in the emergency room too weak to stand on her own and her blood pressure was dangerously high. day six: she began breathing treatments which are helping to keep her airways clear, my sister flew in from atlanta, mom had a brain MRI and a bone scan - both negative for cancer. day seven: she had a PET scan. day eight: the results to the PET scan were devastating, cancer was found in her colon, abdomen, liver, bladder, kidneys, both lungs, bronchial airways, exoskeleton (back), etc. the diagnosis was stage IV colon cancer that had metastasized throughout her body. the doctors inform myself and my two sisters that we, along with our children, are greatly at risk for colon cancer (now colon cancer is on both sides of our family tree & at young ages) and tells us what tests we should have and at what age. day nine: a colonoscopy was done and we are told that surgery is needed to take out a three inch leision of cancer. after getting different doctors opinions, my parents decide that surgery is too risky at this time because the cancer is surrounding her airways. the treatment plan is to start chemotherapy this week and hope that it will stop the growth of cancer and relieve her symptoms so that surgery will be an option two months from now. we took her home that afternoon will a huge list of medications and she rests peacefully in her own bed.
thank you to all my friends, near and far, for the prayers to our Father on our behalf and for letting me talk and cry for hours.
note: i realize this appears more as a medical log than a journal entry and although i have deep thoughts and emotions regarding my mom and other things in life - i needed to record last week's events in this way in order to sort out my thoughts.
posted by Tera @ 5:56 PM
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