(Scott)
A lot has happened since our last post.
Mom was released from the hospital the Monday after Christmas. She had been getting stronger, so it was what we expected. Amy said goodbye to Brad as he left for Philly that afternoon, then helped dad get mom settled at home.
Unlike the last time mom came home from her surgery, this time she had little problems eating, very little pain and almost no nausea. But she was pretty weak and the ileostomy bag proved to be more difficult and complicated than we had expected.
SIDE NOTE ON THIS: I still remain baffled at how ostomy technology remains virtually the same today as it was in the 1950's. We have artificial limbs that the wearers can control with their mind, mimicking a flesh and blood arm/hand/leg, and we can do freaking FACE transplants, but someone who can't pass stool unassisted needs to essentially duct tape a plastic bag to their side and hope the tape holds? WTF?!? We even have artificial buttholes (seriously) for God's sake.
After a few days, and a couple of visits from the VNA & an ostomy specialist, Amy left for Philly after mom's latest appointment with her oncologist. Thanks to Amy's workphone, I was able to FaceTime in with them at mom's appointment so we could all hear from Dr. Pathe about mom's current situation and her plan for next steps. It was really great to be able to be there in some way. (read between the lines that I wish mom or dad had a smart phone...)
After the oncologist appointment, we realized that aside from having cancer, mom's biggest hurdle right now is mental, and in more ways than just dealing with having cancer and an ostomy bag.
Back when this latest battle started in April / May, mom had essentially shut down. We think that in learning that she had cancer again, she dealt with it by essentially mentally closing everything off. She lost almost all of her short term memory and CAT scans and MRI's showed no reason for it.
Then she got better, increasingly better and this fall was nearly back to pre-shut down.
Today, it's a struggle to get mom to do the things she needs to do to get better. She needs to drink water, constantly throughout the day, small sips every few minutes to stay hydrated. With a shorter bowel and no large intestine, maintaining a regular and healthy diet is more important that it has ever been. The time for mom to be a picky eater is not now. Initially we called it stubbornness, but as time moves on we're worried that she's just not comprehending the seriousness of it. Drink water, eat well or end up back in the hospital.
And she did just that last night.
After a minor "blow out" with the ostomy bag, Dad started working with mom to fix it and she became confused and started slurring words and was dizzy. A state that she's gone in and out of during her recovery - a state the doctors and nurses assure us is an indication of dehydration. A test the visiting nurses and Mom's doctor told Dad to do to determine if a hospital trip was needed showed that she needed to go.
Mom is going to be in the hospital for a couple of days to get stronger and re-hydrated. She doesn't want to be there, it makes her cranky. Dad had to give the nurses a refresher on how to deal with mom's ileostomy bag. I'm really proud of him that he has gotten good enough to help explain the process to someone else.
In two weeks she has another appointment with her oncologist. She has two weeks to get strong enough to take the next step in her cancer journey.
We are all pulling for mom to keep making the climb out of this valley, to dig in and do what she has to do to get stronger. The climb is long and difficult. Many have made it before. We are all praying that so can she.
