Heading North Soon

Mom is still in the hospital and it's been a tough week for her.  They did not want her to leave there until she moved her bowels, so all sorts of measures were tried from medicines to a painful gastrografin enema.  Scans did not indicate a blockage, so they performed a colonoscopy yesterday.  The gastroenterologist found a partial obstruction he believed potentially caused by a tumor on the outside of the colon, though recent scans have not shown a tumor in that region.

We are flying out of here on Friday, waiting for the big snowstorm on Thursday to pass.  We will go from the airport straight to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston to be admitted to the hospital.  There her surgeon from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute will evaluate her to determine if she does have tumor constricting her colon, if surgery alleviate the blockage (resulting in a likely colostomy), and evaluate how her overall health and strength. Mom wants to keep pursuing options and the doctors think potentially there are some measures she can take. Mom's oncology team in Rhode Island has been wonderful in helping us sort through all of this, and we have great confidence in them and in her Boston surgeon to guide her and us through all of the upcoming the decision making.

Currently Mom is able to walk around, she is on a clear liquids diet and her pain level fluctuates from uncomfortable to severe pain at different times of the day.

A year ago when her surgeon first told her that it was stage 4 cancer and therefore incurable, he said that perhaps chemo could turn a life expectancy of "months into having months and months."  This was my initiation into the vague timelines given with terminal illness.  The surgeon was right - Mom has had many months and months, and overall it has been a wonderful year.  To use a similar analogy, I think some of the current options being considered could turn having just weeks into having weeks and weeks.  Of course, she and all of us want for time that includes a quality of life that makes it all worth it. Decisions are ahead - some will be made by mom, some will be made for her depending on what future evaluations determine.

After we got the bad news from the GI doctor about the partial blockage, there was a knock on the door and it was someone from the pastoral care team asking if we were interested in a prayer - and we said yes!  Mom is still finding comfort and strength in prayers - and in sunsets.  She gets out of bed to take pictures of the sunset she sees from her hospital window.

Thanks for your prayers.  We will keep you posted after what we learn on Friday and the weekend.