Update #18 - October 26

Dear Family and Friends,

This is a very difficult email to write, but I wanted to let everyone know the latest news on my mom.

My mom went to Wingham on Monday for her chemo treatment and she has her doctors appointment in London set up for this Thursday to discuss the results of her CTscan.

When she was in Wingham, there was a doctor there who had the results of her CTscan, and wanted to let her know then and there, rather than having my mom wait for her appointment in London. Unfortunately the results were not good. In fact, they were heartbreaking. Her tumors have continued to grow in size, and in some cases, double. Many of the lesions are joining together in her liver and this is what is likely causing all her pain. The doctor In Wingham decided to tell my mom this because he wanted to give her the decision whether or not she even wanted to take her chemo treatment, as the doctors assessment was that my mom may not have much time left and if she didn't want to spend it doing chemo, it was her option. It was a difficult decision to make under the circumstances, but my mom decided to go ahead with it. It could be helping to give her a little more time and she wanted to do everything she could do and not give up -- which reminds me of a quote that is dear to my heart "When the world says, "Give up", hope whispers, Try it one more time." And my strong, amazing, inspiring mom chose hope -- and decided to take the chemo treatment. And I am so proud of her for refusing to give up, even if the face of such news.

After her chemo treatment, my mom and dad were drained and considerably shaken. This is a lot to take in. My mom is resting at my house this week. She will get her chemo treatment off on Wednesday, but for now, she is very weak, experiencing a lot of side effects and in fairly severe pain. It is very tough for my dad and I to see, and hard for my mom to see herself when she looks in the mirror at her body. She is now under 100 pounds and needs help walking from the bed to the bathroom. Unfortunately, the pain medication no longer seems to be doing its job, even though it has continued to be increased. So hopefully when she goes to London on Thursday her oncologist or a pain specialist will discuss what her options are in regards to pain so she does not have to continue to be in pain.

My Uncle, who is a doctor, has stressed the importance of hearing the news from the oncologist himself on Thursday, because he might interpret them differently and could be willing to try more things. The person who read the results for my mom was a general doctor and not an oncologist. It's possible that his specialized eye will tell us that things aren't looking quite so bad in the grand scheme of the tumor load to her liver. The other good thing is that the cancer has not spread beyond, to any other organs. So if my mom can get enough of her strength back up to go on Thursday, she wants to go. At this point he will lay out her options and we will know for sure where things stand.

In the meantime, my mom is trying to stay hydrated and eat what she can. She's watching movies with her husband and watching her grandson play for short periods. She has had a few short visits with friends and is trying to enjoy every day she is blessed with.

Please keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers at this time. She is the most wonderful woman in the world who does not deserve this, but she is the first person to tell me that she is blessed beyond belief with wonderful family and friends and beautiful memories of a life well lived with not a single regret.

I think we are the ones blessed beyond belief to know her.

Lisa