Mom Battles Cancer

Below is the text of an email I sent to some of my closest friends to let them know my mom was facing serious health challenges:

May 18, 2009

I wanted to let you know that following the 6 hour surgery late Monday to remove a portion of her stomach, small intestine and pancreas, my mom has been in intensive care recovering. She has had a real challenge with her lungs coming back to full strength.

While her recovery has seemed to progress, the lab reports that came in last night on the biopsies taken during the surgery are troubling. Apparently 3 out of the 5 lymph nodes biopsied showed that cancer had infiltrated those nodes. Also, the pancreas showed that cancer was also present there. The surgeon was surprised that the labs show the cancer is much more invasive than earlier testing showed.

If my mom’s lungs and heart can recover sufficiently from Monday’s surgery the next step in treatment will be some form of chemotherapy. I’m praying that she would recover to the point of being able to take on this additional treatment…or if that is not the case, that God would provide His gracious comfort to her.

May 23, 2009

At hospital; when I arrived at about 3pm, my aunt, cousin & her husband from Collinsville, IL, my brother, sister, and dad were here.

While doing physical therapy earlier today, mom’s heart rate spiked and she had to stop the physical activity and received some medication to control her heart rate. The medication was effective, but not doing the physical activity set her recovery back a day. The plan was to sit up today and walk tomorrow…but the schedule is now pushed back.

Mom is talking some and is alert, though she is laboring in both breathing and talking.

Another positive sing is that she has had bowel movements, which indicates her digestive system is working.

Had dinner with dad and Jeff. Dad expressed concern about mom’s lungs and can’t believe that the two doctors she has been seeing for the past several years cold test her lungs and say they were “clear.” He also expressed concern regarding the biopsies, saying one “is going to come back bad.”

Jenise expressed concern that the status of mom’s heart and lungs make the possibility of congestive heart failure the most imminent risk.

May 25, 2009

At hospital for overnight shift. On the morning of the 24^th the house doctor said mom “was making acceptable progress.”

She was put in a chair to sit up yesterday and did that twice today.

Tomorrow they will do some type of dye test to make sure that everything internally is sealed well.

She is likely to be moved to a “step-down” room—one that is not “intensive care,” but still on this floor.

Her heart rhythm is much better now after the medications they’ve given her; and her breathing is better, but still a little labored.

She is sleeping now (it is 6:30pm), but is not extremely comfortable.

Over the past two days she has improved, but is still weak, afraid, and a little surprised at how difficult this recovery is.

On the way here this afternoon, I thought about how difficult it is to rest here. It seems that every hour they are sticking her finger to check her blood glucose levels. They were at 84 on the last check and I believe they will take her off of the intravenous insulin. But I was thinking a great way to really understand a little of what it’s like would be to have them stick me in the finger with a needle every time they stick her.

I wish the recovery would go fast. I wish her heart and lungs were stronger. I pray that God gives her a strong desire and will that will help her to do the difficult things she needs to do to recover from the surgery and face the choices of future treatment.

I know she is scared. When talking about moving her to a lower-level-of-care room, she said she wanted to make sure someone was with her all the time…and suggested that we should hire a nurse to be with her. She also asked if Pastor Pelsue could come and give her communion.

I redirected her thoughts from that, but this is hard. Not the sitting by her frequently ringing monitors; not manning the overnight shift; but the conversations with Jenise about he future; the thoughts of how this will affect dad; how recognizing death is everyone’s destination doesn’t make it easier when the conversation involves your mom.

May 26, 2009 10pm

After a shot of Adavan to help her sleep, mom again expressed concern about being moved to a room where she would receive less nursing attention. She also asked for Pastor Pelsue to come and give her communion and later asked for him to come and read her some scripture. She asked if I thought when someone dies and they are put in the coffin does their soul go to heaven. I told her that is what the Bible says. She said she say the angels and then described them as being bright white with flowing white hair and robes. She then asked if you are bad do you go to hell. I told her that we are all bad and that is why God sent Jesus to earth—to take the punishment for all of us because none of us can live up to the standard God set. And to go to heaven we have to believe that Jesus died for us and rose from the grave.

She is dozing off now but I think her fear is keeping her from letting go to rest comfortably.

May 27, 2009 12.13am

Mom is sleeping well after a full day. She was up, bathed and sitting in a chair from 5 – 8am Tuesday morning. She also got up on her own with the aid of a walker and took two small steps. She was also given a dye scan to determine if all of the areas of surgery were closed tightly. A preliminary report shows everything to be leak-free. Unfortunately during the scan, they removed a gastric drainage tube and she began to eliminate fluid orally. The tube was reattached and she is feeling good.

Her heart and lungs are much better—continuing to improve. Mentally she is more alert and much more verbal. She is generally gaining strength and now needs to get her body in motion so she can continue to get stronger.

Jenise believes they will move mom to a “step-down” room tomorrow. This is a room still on this floor, but a “step-down” from intensive care. Mom is a little fearful of that, but is gaining more confidence.

She has gotten a few hours of sleep and is now getting all of her tubes and vital signs checked…and hopefully will be able to go back to sleep.

Blood sugar was 142 and mom is being given 3 units of insulin. This is after it was 54 late yesterday…and they gave her some dextrose to bring it up.

May 27, 2009 10.30pm

This afternoon mom was moved to a regular room and the heart and oxygen monitors were removed. She still has the gastric tube and urinary catheter. She is doing much better. She walked a fair distance before they moved her to this new room.

Jenise said that the oncologist talked with dad today. This probably means that dad was given the results of the biopsies and knows that the surgery did not get all of the cancer.

This surgery has been really difficult for mom and I know that she will not immediately embrace the idea of additional treatment.

May 28, 2009

Mom again slept well last night considering the interruptions of breathing treatments and the checking of vital signs.

My hope is to find that when I get there in a few hours that she has been up walking and also sitting in her chair.

May 29, 2009

Didn't get much of a chance to record much last night. Sleep wasn't as easy last night...mostly due to interruptions from nurses. Mom was also a little restless...she is ready to get out of the hospital bed and out of the hospital. I encouraged her to continue to walk as much as she can. getting ready to head up there soon and relieve dad.