Update #14 - August 30

Dear Family and Friends,

First, I want to congratulate my mom on getting through 10 chemo treatments! She has showed amazing strength and courage and I am so proud of her! She is the most positive and resilient and brave person I know and I am proud to call her my mom.

After her tenth chemo treatment, she went for her CT scan to find out what the treatments have been doing. And she went to London last week to meet with her doctor for her results:
The cancer has remained at a standstill in my mom's colon and the lymph nodes, but sadly, has continued to spread in her liver.

I think this is the moment that everybody dreads, the moment that we have all played in our heads, at one time or another. The moment, you are sitting in a doctors office, across from a doctor, who tells you that you have something that they just can't cure. How much time, you ask? And you hold your breath, waiting for the answer...

And then they give you a text book answer, that you can't really absorb, because while that might be the reality for some people, it will most certainly not be the reality for you! Besides, clearly, they do not know my mom. She is a fighter and she is determined to be around for a long time to come. And I for one, just know that she will be.

My mom has now been paired with a younger more aggressive doctor, and is switching to a more aggressive chemo treatment, that the doctors say could stop the spread of cancer much more effectively than the first chemo she was given. They are going to give her six treatments, every two weeks, but they will see her back after 3 treatments to see how it's working. She went for her first treatment today, and we are all holding out hope that this chemo will stop the spread in her liver. My mom has already decided that if this chemo doesn't do the trick (and we really hope it will!) she will move on to experimental options. She is not giving up, not by a long shot. And we are researching options far and wide, all cutting edge treatments that are available, along with the best doctors and research centers that we can find. We will never give up, because there is always hope. Miracles happen every day, and we have read stories of many people were told there was nothing more the doctors could do, who have lived for up to 20 years. So why not my mom? If anyone can be the person to beat the odds, she can. Medical statistics don't take into account what people can accomplish with a strong will to live, hope, faith and love. She is filled with these things and has so many people who love her and need her around. And I believe these are the things that will pull my mom through. Nobody ever accomplished anything amazing without hope, faith, and love. And she is so lucky to have all three. Nothing is ever hopeless, we must always hang onto hope, even when all hope seems lost, there is ALWAYS hope. Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

And in the meantime, my mom will continue to stay in the present moment and enjoy every single day that she has been given. She is teaching me a valuable lesson, about how it's so important to take today and be thankful for it. About how rather than sitting at home and feeling sorry for the hand that she's been dealt, she wants to get out and make the most of each glorious day that she is here. They say the best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. Life is a great adventure, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here right now. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow, good or bad, but we all have the gift of today. She plans to stay in the present moment and squeeze all the joy, love, and life she can out of each moment. That is all that any of us can do, and it sure beats crying about what might happen tomorrow.

In the end, life is what we make it. So join my mom in making the most of each and every single day.
Lisa