My Mom: When school started in Sept of 2010 Mom had to break-in a new kindergarten teacher (fresh out of college) and a class that went from 18 to 29 students - a huge jump in snot-nosed brats. :) Mom started feeling tired, stressed and began napping when she got home (she is 69 after all.) Then she began getting nagging little colds or aches that she never had before and we continued to think stress and too much work. The doctor agreed. Around Feb/March Mom started getting B12 shots but the doctor found nothing until Mom lost her voice and sent her to an Ear/Nose/Throat doc. He sent Mom for a CatScan cause he needed more than an xray. Turns out she had a tumor in her lung and thus began the journey. To shorten a long story, she has stage 3 lung cancer, does not have classic presentation or additional complications and was/is in good health for a 69 year old. All of which increase her odds of survival and of course she has a great support network and excellent doctors.
She started a combo treatment plan of chemo and radiation immediately but this proved a bit too much at once. We learned a lot about the importance of eating, hydrating and listening to one's body. They give you tons of info but until you have cancer care experience, there is still a gigantic learning curve. Mom completed 39 radiation treatments by Aug and is on a new three week cycle of chemo for about 4 months.
I've been doing most everything - cooking (anything to get her to eat), cleaning, driving to the doctors, tracking her meds (excel is great for this and the docs love it) and medical records (for the trips to the hospital (which have averaged about once a month) and pushing, pushing, pushing to eat, walk, get up and dressed (which of most days is a major accomplishment to be proud of.) Taking care of people just isn't my Dad's thing and he's completely stressed and my sister has her own family of a husband and three boys 23, 21 and 14 and if you remember my 21 year old nephew fell off a roof and was in a coma. He's made a complete recovery but there is an incredible story to still be told about him. So it's been mostly me and it has cost me.
Mom just got out of the hospital after being there 3 of the past 4 weeks. We were both in at the same time for about a week. First for a caught-early case of pneumonia (the biggest threat to any cancer fighter) and then after 5 days home she was back because she caught a virus while in the hospital that caused complications. This turned out to be a good thing in that they discovered a pre-existing arrhythmia. It was at this time I was hospitalized for the second time and will post about late today or Monday.
Mom continues to gain strength and today we are going to Costco and then Jones Beach and Robert Mosses (the very far end/beginning of Fire Island) for a walk and lunch at the marina. Up next is a PetScan, 11/09, which will when read on 11/16 will finally tell us how successful the treatment has been so far - FINGERS CROSSED!
I have not written about this because it is very hard and emotional for me. I feel a bit better and thank you for reading. Sean
BTW - no pics because my scanner is a piece of crap.
She started a combo treatment plan of chemo and radiation immediately but this proved a bit too much at once. We learned a lot about the importance of eating, hydrating and listening to one's body. They give you tons of info but until you have cancer care experience, there is still a gigantic learning curve. Mom completed 39 radiation treatments by Aug and is on a new three week cycle of chemo for about 4 months.
I've been doing most everything - cooking (anything to get her to eat), cleaning, driving to the doctors, tracking her meds (excel is great for this and the docs love it) and medical records (for the trips to the hospital (which have averaged about once a month) and pushing, pushing, pushing to eat, walk, get up and dressed (which of most days is a major accomplishment to be proud of.) Taking care of people just isn't my Dad's thing and he's completely stressed and my sister has her own family of a husband and three boys 23, 21 and 14 and if you remember my 21 year old nephew fell off a roof and was in a coma. He's made a complete recovery but there is an incredible story to still be told about him. So it's been mostly me and it has cost me.
Mom just got out of the hospital after being there 3 of the past 4 weeks. We were both in at the same time for about a week. First for a caught-early case of pneumonia (the biggest threat to any cancer fighter) and then after 5 days home she was back because she caught a virus while in the hospital that caused complications. This turned out to be a good thing in that they discovered a pre-existing arrhythmia. It was at this time I was hospitalized for the second time and will post about late today or Monday.
Mom continues to gain strength and today we are going to Costco and then Jones Beach and Robert Mosses (the very far end/beginning of Fire Island) for a walk and lunch at the marina. Up next is a PetScan, 11/09, which will when read on 11/16 will finally tell us how successful the treatment has been so far - FINGERS CROSSED!
I have not written about this because it is very hard and emotional for me. I feel a bit better and thank you for reading. Sean
BTW - no pics because my scanner is a piece of crap.
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