(Scott)
After my last post, mom continued to get better. She followed the doctors orders and it seemed like things were doing well. She was at home with dad, walking and getting stronger. They even went to church and went out to eat after doctors appointments. Occasionally they'd have some struggles with the ostomy bag, but it seems like that's becoming rather routine for them. Things were generally looking up.
And then they weren't.
Dad called us January 26th to let us know that he had to take mom to the emergency room. The visiting nurse had come by that day and taken mom's blood. She had been feeling tired so I don't think it was a big surprise that when they ran it at the hospital it showed that she was severely dehydrated. It was a struggle for dad to get her down the steps, into the car and to the hospital. She was mentally blurry and very very week.
She was ULTRA dehydrated.
In just a few days she went from being on the road to a good recovery to being unable to sit up in a hospital bed by herself. In the hospital they began the same kind of regiment that had worked before. Lots of IV fluids, lots of water and food. Lots of rest. And things were getting better.
Ian and I had planned to come visit Mom & Dad that weekend to repaint the living room, dining room and hallway. Something mom had asked us to do and we were excited to make happen. Being stuck in the house recovering from cancer sucks, so anything to brighten that space would be great. But... with mom still in the hospital we all decided it would be best to postpone the painting.
On Tuesday mom was well enough and mentally back enough to start rehab. They were scheduled to move her to the transitional unit at the hospital, so Dad's call later that day with bad news was another surprise.
Dehydration led to immobility. Being immobile led to blood clots in mom's leg. Blood Clots in the legs are bad enough but in this circumstance they are emergency bad. The doctors installed a filter to prevent the clots from causing more harm by breaking free. Within 24 hours it was clear that blood thinners and clot solvents (?) weren't enough and the doctors wanted to do an angiograph... a sort of roto-rooter of the arteries and veins in mom's lower leg.
After much persuading, mom agreed to have the procedure done and with a stent, it successfully restored blood flow to her foot.
That's the easy part of this update.
Here's the big slide back...
After mom's deep resistance to the simple Angiograph, she had a conversation with her oncologist.
Remember in my last post that mom had two weeks to get better?
Two weeks have well come and gone and mom is still very weak. Upon my parents' insistence, they released her from the hospital so that she can be more comfortable at home.
I drove to PA this weekend to be with mom and dad. Amy will be in by train tonight. I have to head back to Michigan tomorrow. This was just a short trip for me.
Nurses are now coming to the house every morning to administer home IV's so that mom can keep hydrated. The list of medicines for her to keep nutrients in her system has grown.
Mom is still not drinking enough water... the phrase You can lead a horse to water... applies here.
This is a struggle, a real struggle.
She is very weak. She cannot stand, she is able to walk with a walker - but not well.
It seems like cancer is slowly taking her away, bit by bit and I feel helpless, we feel helpless. When the cancer is basically un-treatable you just have to treat the effects. At this point we're full-on into Palliative care for mom. The goal is to treat the effects that cancer has on her and help her get strong.
We're hoping and praying that she can get strong enough to make a last chance attempt to treat the actual cancer through Chemotherapy or something else. But the longer she goes without getting to that point, the farther that hope seems.
Some family and friends have helped mom and dad with things like bringing meals over, stopping by to say hello, and visiting when mom's feeling well. All these things are answers to prayers and helpful for them. With Amy & I living so far away, we can't express how much we appreciate this from our family and friends.
And prayers, thoughts, cards and flowers are always helpful.
And with all of that we'll see how she gets through this period.
Tonight I'm reminded that while cancer is indiscriminate in who it attacks, when and how. Faith leads me to believe that things like this have a greater purpose, a lesson, an experience, a need to learn, to care, to be. We are fortunate when we can see that purpose in the moment and must be patient when we cannot.
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