Update #19 - October 28

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been a long day, but I wanted to let you know that my mom has been admitted into the London hospital.

She went for her appointment today, and it was a very difficult day for her due to her pain and exhaustion. The doctor decided to admit her to the hospital there in London, in order to try to get her pain under control. He suggested that staying in the hospital in London, rather than coming home and checking into the Kincardine hospital, she would get better care right there where he can oversee her and make sure she is getting the right pain control, get her moving her bowels again, and get her eating again. The hope is that she will be in the hospital for a few days, and hopefully come back home, feeling a little stronger and with her pain under control. The aim is to try to give her some more time with her family that she can enjoy.

As for the appointment itself, the doctor said that there may be a few other options he can try in regards to the cancer, but he needs to get her stronger first. As she has already been told, the chemo treatment did not work. Her cancer is continuing to advance in all her tumors. Due to the fact that right now my mom's greatest obstacle is her pain and weakness, they did not spend much time talking about further options for fighting the cancer. He did mention that he is considering another type of chemo, if she is a candidate for it. He will be doing a test on her tumor tissue (that they biopsied when she first found out) and talk to her next week about that option, once she is out of the hospital. He also suggested doing radiation for pain control to help manage her pain. But his primary focus is treating her pain and getting her eating again.

My dad is with her tonight, and I will be going down for the weekend tomorrow. I will send an update again when I can.

Lisa