My mom just died from cancer

I just lost my mom on March 3rd of this year. She had been battling lung cancer since August of 2003. She was bombarded weekly with radiation and chemo. It left some scarring in her lungs, which caused difficulty in breathing. She would have healthy periods where she could actually travel and get together with her friends. She and her life partner had even planned a trip from their home in Florida, to Illinois, Michigan, and other states in the northwest, for this summer. Then, the last week of February, she went into the hospital because of her shortness of breath. Her doctors diagnosed her with pneumonia and bronchitis in both lungs. They also found that she had emphysema. When they did the CAT Scan, they did not find any evidence of existing cancer. They gave my mom broad-spectrum antibiotics to clear up the infection in her lungs, and steroids to help her breathe easier. The pneumonia and bronchitis cleared up, but her breathing still remained difficult. After about five days following admission, she was moved to ICU. She was hooked up to a respirator and intubated. She fought the tubing in her nose and throat, so she had to be heavily sedated to allow her to tolerate the tubing. About four days later, she died of a cardiac arrest. I buried my mom in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 8, 2004. I am contacting this website in hopes of sharing my story with other adult children of cancer patients who didn't make it.