Moms update

I posted on here some time back about my mom who is 82 going on 83 this November.

a jog back in memory for those that read my post:

Mom 74 years old when she was afflicted with what her doctor , who has been in practice over 38+ yrs said was the MOST aggressive breast cancer he had EVER seen in all his years of practice. He treated her with Radiaton and Chemo back then...she was strong and she is a Survivor.

It wasnt until she opted to no longer go to the big city where she had to go to get what she called her "Cancer shots". We live 210 miles one way to Fairbanks Alaska where she goes for her treatments. In winter it became an issue traveling due to the cold and level of difficulty driving there. It was also dangerous and dad being a Type II diabetic lost pretty much his whole eyesight and cannot drive ..it was up to mom to drive. I have never learned to drive in the city and was not able to take them, and she didnt want to bother my brother due to personal issues in his own family , so she didnt want to bother asking him. So eventually she chose NOT to take the shots. I tried to arrange the shots to be given in our small town at the local clinic but they never responded back to my request and because I wasn't on the "List" of confidential people to talk to they wouldnt take the time with me.

It required moms permission to put me on the list.. of which I cannot get mom to do for me because she feels I am trying to 'take over' her and dads lives so that us kids can do what we want with them.

My older sister is on the list though and I have to go through her but with her busy busy schedule being a teacher of Emotionally Disturbed children in the school, she doesnt have time to be calling Doctors and when she does have time they are closed by then. sigh

Anyhow.. Mom was having problems this March so she got examined and they discovered a Large Mass in her colon area and found a tumor growing there.

From what I understand now and didnt know until this morning via my daughter..that the mass is so tangled they cannot remove it for fear of losing mom too. So Her doctor had her on a VERY AGGRESSIVE Chemo cocktai (as they call it).. with treatments once a week and only one week off in each month. He would like to give her more so her body could gain strength but he told my sister he couldnt take that chance..they are trying to shrink the tumor.

Mom went to her appt on Friday and came home feeling and talking fine. Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) she suddenly took a turn for the worse having a hard time breathing and extreme pain in her stomach area. My sister in law was called and she managed to get the Troopers called since the clinic isnt open on Sundays and got the ambulance to their house and she was then medivac'd by plane to the city. They couldnt fine a vein in her to administer pain meds. My sis in law said that she was in such pain that mom didnt recognize her at all.

They did all sorts of exrays and finally come to the conclusion that something had ruptured in her intestines and unless they went in to see where and why , mom wouldnt make it.

Mom was very unstable at that point..extremely weak and in pain, her BP was very low also. They wished they could get her MORE stable but they couldnt in her condition as it was..so they decided to go for it and do an exploratory surgery and pray for the best.

They went in and was happy to find it wasnt as bad as they dreaded. Turns out an Ulcer kind of place had torn and air was leaking into moms stomach /intestinal system. They were able to patch up the place with some fatty tissue and get her all sewed up in a half hours time!

She was sent to ICU a little after midnight. They said they had her under a heavy dose of Anesthsia because they figured on being in her a lot longer but they weren't and because her BP was so low, they wanted to get her on recovery as fast as possible.

I havent heard any more at this point..figured no news is good news.

I have a Mighty Army of Prayer Warriors standing in the gap for my mom praying hard.

Some of us that know moms lifestyle living conditions at home also feel that this is Gods way of getting mom out of the home. My step dad depends on mom for 'everything' since he cannot see hardly at all..nor has he made efforts to learn how to exist as a blind person. He just basically sits all day long and orders mom around. He also has this belief that if a person is sick or injured the MORE they keep moving the sooner they will get well. Of course you know ..that doesn't apply to him now does it? NOT!! of course not (sigh)

I have been telling mom NOT to do the things he asks her to do (cooking, cleaning, driving him to the store, etc) but she won't listen to me. She wants her independance, even though she doesnt like dad asking her to do things..neither will she allow me to apply for Home Care service. I can't get to their house that often and I would like to get someone down there regularly.

I tried and tried to tell my step dad that he can't be askign mom to make the woodstove fires, haul firewood in, drive him here and there and making him supper or snacks or whathave you.. but he won't listen to me... neither of them want me to be telling them what to do.

Its a choice they made. I just finished telling some friends a week ago or so that I was just waiting for mom to collapse because as weak with anemic condition that she was and the harsh chemo treatment she was getting that she couldnt keep up a normal lifestyle and expect to get her rest or LIVE for that matter.

I prayed and asked the Lord to do what He needed to do to get her OUT of the house so she could get put where she can get rest.

She also wasnt eating very well at home OR drinking enough, so I am hoping this will help BOOST her body by being in the hospital..I pray pray pray they DON"T send her home right away!!!! We don't have the Medical assistance or help in our town at all.

thats the scoop on my mom...

Kath