No news = good news
Well, after many months of no news, we're back to having news.
As
you know, my mom was given an additional three months of no
treatment after her CT scan in September was stable . This came as a huge
surprise and an even bigger relief.
My
mom wasted no time and spent six weeks traveling the world. She spent
time in Jordan, Turkey, Portugal, and Switzerland. I was fortunate
enough to join her for some of the trip and I am forever grateful for
the adventures we shared.
Unfortunately,
while in Switzerland, my mom became sick and ended up in the hospital.
The fluid in her lungs had returned and despite their best attempt to
drain it, they were not able to successfully alleviate her discomfort.
After a short travel ban since flying would likely compromise her lungs,
she was able to get home.
We
spent last week going from appointment to appointment, and yesterday we
met with the oncologist. As we predicted, the cancer has progressed.
The lesions that never went away have increased and there are also new growths in her abdomen.
The
oncologist decided that my mom was not a good candidate for the same
chemo regime she was on last fall, so he is changing her treatment and starting her on a new plan with three drugs. It's the same gig -- six rounds, 18 weeks total, so that puts us into April.
The success rate with
second-line therapy decreases substantially (40-50% versus 80% with the
last chemo), so all we can hope for at this point is a response. It
takes a few weeks to know that the chemo is working via the CA-125 blood
test, so until then, we wait and keep hope.
It's
been a rough past two weeks, but we are prepared for the months ahead (at least
more so than last year). I'm not sure I'll ever get used to this
reality. My mom is sad. I'm sad. The hard part is that we knew this was going to happen, but it still hurts. Deep down there is a part of my mind that keep hopes that she's the exception to the statistics, but then I stare at a CT scan and
realize just how real this is.
Due
to the seriousness of the growth, my mom is starting chemo on the 15th,
so as much as we had hoped to wait until after the holidays, she must
begin as soon as possible. Nonetheless, we are committed to celebrating the holidays and giving thanks for all the love in our lives.
Please continue to keep us in your thoughts.
xoxo
