Update

I promise this isn't going to turn into As the Cancer Turns. I'll write about other stuff, fun stuff too - if for no other reason than my mom reads this blog and I can only imagine she'd rather read about something else too.

Nevertheless, here's the latest: Mom had a CT scan and an echocardiogram yesterday and was scheduled to begin chemo this morning. Following yesterday's scans, however, the doctor said they needed to hold off because there is a suspicious looking lymph node in her neck that needs to be looked at more closely and some kind of spot on her liver. He says they need to determine what these mystery markings are before proceding.

She's scheduled to take some ultra-fancy scan with special radioactive goo next Tuesday that will hopefully reveal everything the doctor needs to know.

Now, if these other things turn out to be nothing (scar tissue, cysts, etc.) then Mom goes ahead with a long, grueling session of chemotherapy that will make her sick, tired, and bald. (Funny how the effects of chemo are so similar to those of raising children. I mean, sick, tired, and your hair is falling out? It's like they're the same.) But with that there is the possibility of remission and cure.

On the other hand, if the cancer has metastasized and it actually is cancer on her liver and in her lympthatic system, then she moves officially from being stage 3 to stage 4 and, at that point, is considered incurable.

If that's the case, then she will take a much milder course of chemo treatment that will basically serve to keep the cancer in check.

So the possibilities at the present moment are:

1. The possibility of cure but at the heavy price of sickness, fatigue, and looking like Telly Savalas. (Which, actually, when you think about it like that, is kind of cool.)

2. The possibility of it being terminal but with the advantage of less chemo-induced difficulty.

So, as usual, life doesn't offer a perfect, rosy path in any direction. It's more like, "Would you like a punch in the face or one to the gut? Which do you prefer?"

Stay tuned tomorrow when I will not write about cancer but instead will reveal interesting, useless, and little known facts about Lost cast members that I have recently discovered.



Who loves you, baby?