Update on Mom

Sorry that I haven't been able to update you on my Mom's health until now, but we really haven't had any concrete answers until this week.

I'll try to sum up what's happened since Thanksgiving, when my Mom was diagnosed with cancer. At first there seemed to be a bit of back and forth with the doctors. The Oncologist didn't want to see her until she had a biopsy, the doctor performing the biopsy wanted her to see the Oncologist first. I think after a week and a half Mom was finally booked for a biopsy in Peterborough. During the biopsy, they were able to drain some fluid, hoping that this would help to alleviate some of the pressure.

On November 6th, Mom had an appointment with a surgeon, and this is where we were told that Mom didn't have Pancreatic Cancer, that she had Neuroendocrine Tumors. The surgeon said that Mom has probably been living with the tumors for a long time, and gave some possible scenarios for treatment. With the Pancreatic Cancer, Mom would have probably been looking at a couple of months, and now with this new diagnosis, although it still wasn't good, was a little better and would probably give Mom a couple of years as long as her body reacted well to the treatments.

This past Monday, November 13th, I was with Mom and Dad while they met with the Oncologist... remember the week before she was meeting with a surgeon, and they couldn't do anything for her because her diagnosis was different from what they had originally thought. An intern originally came in and asked Mom questions and then conferred with the Doctor. They both came in together and gave us a snapshot of Mom's health. She said that there were three options, chemotherapy, embolisation, and supportive care. The chemo option would help slow down the cancer, but counts on your body to flush out the toxins, and then went on to say that this type of cancer doesn't react well to chemo because it is not a blood based cancer. The embolisation option would kill off the blood supply to each of the tumors, but you need to have enough good liver tissue to regenerate for this to work. Mom has 5-10% of good liver tissue left. Option three is supportive (palliative) care, they would treat Mom's symptoms, drain fluid, and control any pain. This last option is what the Oncologist was suggesting. The chemo and embolisation would probably do more harm than good, and not increase quality of life. This is when the doctor said that although the Neuroendocrine Tumors is a slow growing cancer, they think that they have caught it at the tail end, where it is increasing. Like all doctors, she said that she wasn't sure how long Mom would live, but guessed and said 3 to 4 months.

Thankfully, the hospital was able to coordinate some other appointments for Mom right after each other. From the Oncologist's office (2nd floor), we went to the blood lab (main floor), then to the palliative Care doctor (4th floor), Dr. Bryson. He was great. Looked over Mom's medications, added some more medications, answered a LOT of questions. From here, Mom was sent to get some fluid drained (15th floor). We were at the hospital from 9am - 3pm. Obviously it was a long day, with a lot that needed to be absorbed, and is still being absorbed.

At the moment, Mom is well enough to stay at home with some extra assistance from ParaMed. They have come to do an assesment on what Mom needs to help her get around the house better. They will come in periodically to help her with whatever needs to be done. Mom and Dad have some great friends and family up in Fenelon Falls, who have been able to come around them and support them with cleaning, cooking, or just sitting down to chat. I wish that we lived closer and could be more help.

As Christians, we believe that God is the Great Healer. We know that He has the power to cure. We know that even if God does not heal Mom's body here on earth that she will be given a new body in Heaven, one free from pain, cured from cancer, and one that will live forever. However God will work in my Mom's life, we will continue to give God the glory.

Please continue to pray for my Mom and our family. Thanks.