Sometimes I just don't have the energy to whine about my life...

...and maybe that is a good thing!

It's been about three months since I got that phone call from my dad about my mom's cancer. Now, I've never been the biggest fan of doctors (not saying that they are bad people, or anything...I just don't really like medicine, etc.) but this really hasn't improved my view much.

So, my mom has Kaiser Permanente insurance...when this whole thing started, she ended up really sick and jaundiced. She was sent in for CT scans, MRIs, etc. She was first sent to a surgeon who told her that she had inoperable pancreatic cancer. Not a fun thing to hear...not to mention complete lack of bedside manner, and an assumption that his guess was indeed, fact.

When she was sent on to an oncologist for testing, it turned out that she has lymphoma (not sure which type...there's a reason I didn't go into nursing or anything like that!). They have competely ruled out pancreatic cancer, and her most recent CT scan did not show any tumours. So, Friday is her 5th round of chemo, and she will have one more round, but then most likely will be done.

I was supposed to go up and sit with her during her chemo, but naturally my snotty little girls gave me a cold! Obviously, it would be better for me NOT to enter into the chemo room with any sort of illness, so instead I am going to stay home and feel a little guilty about my mom having to be there all alone.

I have to admit, this has been a very trying couple of months for me...but I know that it has been so much worse for my dad. I am hoping that all of what has been happening is God's plan for my dad's salvation...

So, the whole cancer thing happens...
Good news (my aunt, uncle, hubby and I all think this first one might have been a miracle) lymphoma with a 50% survival rate (or so) instead of the less than 5% survival rate for pancreatic cancer.

My mom went back to teaching, and has ended up in the ER three times now (she still doesn't want to take time off because she is afraid that she will need sick leave later...never mind that she has been paying into a sick leave bank for 25 years...never mind that she definately has reason to used said sick leave bank if she needed to...)

Most recent ER visit was over labor day weekend. Hubby and I and the girls were going up to the mountains with his extended family (to the same town where my parents spend weekends and summers) and my mom had planned this grand 3rd birthday bash at their house. My mom ends up in the ER neutropenic (not sure if I spelled that right or not! but basically having no immune system) and needed antibiotics and a blood transfusion. It turns out that she had e. coli from the stent in her liver, and she had to stay in through Tuesday so that they could put a cathader into her because all her veins were going bad from all the chemo and the IVs from hospital stays.

My dad threw the bash by himself, took lots of pictures, and my mom was well enough after the party for us to bring the girls down to see her.

So, my mom took a week off from school after that. Last Friday, I got a call from my mom saying that my grandma (dad's mom) who was in the hospital with a broken hip had a lot of problems during a hip replacement and was bleeding internally and not likely to make it through the night. She passed away that night.

See what I mean about my poor dad?

Anyhow, that's just a short update on how things have been around here in the past few months. I'm going to try to get back in the habit of blogging (though perhaps with less whining involved!)