Happy Mother's Day (Belated)

Greetings Loyal Readers...

...or should I say Loyal Readers of Your Faithful Correspondent? As you know, these updates are most often penned by the mysterious YFC, the nom de plume (pen name...it's already been established that everything sound better in French) of...well, me. This is all getting a wee bit confusing, maybe I should take a step back and explain...

(left: Mom and Sis)

Today's posting is not going to be written by YFC or the Favorite Child or #1 (you do realize those are all one and the same person, right?); instead, it's being written by me, Corey. And let me tell you, it feels mighty strange.

Here's the latest: on Monday, Mom had an appointment with Dr. Mellott (you probably know her better as the Cotton Troll, but today everyone gets to be called by their real names). We received some news that we didn't really expect: the last CT scan revealed that there was a 1.2cm x 1.8cm tumor in Mom's pancreas. Now this was pretty shocking news for a couple of reasons. First, we thought that Mom had rid herself of the pancreatic tumor. For the last few months we've been concentrating on healing the liver. Moreover, when Mom met with Dr. Sato last week, he never mentioned that anything was wrong with her pancreas. In fact, he said that the right side of her liver (the part that was most recently treated) seemed to be responding well to the TheraSpheres treatment (radiation). So what gives?

(above right: Mom at chemo)

Unfortunately, in the shock of the moment I think a little was lost in translation. I can't really report whether the tumor was there all along and it was somehow "missed" (seems unlikely) or whether it grew back. We also don't really know about the state of the cancer itself. Apparently CT scans have limitations, like not being able to distinguish between dead cancer cells and live ones. That's why Mom is scheduled to have a PET scan Friday (tomorrow), so the doctors can get a better sense of how effective her treatment has been.

(above: Mom, Cousin Nanci & Michelle)

Often times YFC will let you know where Mom's been (for example, he might inform you that Mom's neighbor Mark took her to Ruth's Chris to make sure that her hemoglobin levels stayed nice and high) or where she's planning to go (the Royal George Theatre to see some bloke named Mark Nadler perform a one-man show called "Russian on the Side"...edit: we went last night...quickie review - meh). But since this is Corey writing and not my alter ego, I'm not going to get into that (at least not anymore than I already have).

(right: Mary, Trudy & Mom)

Instead, I thought I'd say a few words about Mom, seeing how last weekend was Mother's Day and all. Wow...this is hard. YFC never gets writer's block when penning The Chemo Chronicle, but all of a sudden I'm at a loss for words. Well, instead of writing to you the reader, I hope that you'll indulge me a bit and let me speak directly to my Mom...

Mom,

Over the years you've taught me many important lessons. Be nice to others. Look both ways before you cross the street. Always wear a clean pair of underwear...just in case. But perhaps the greatest lesson of all is one that I'm not even sure you realize that you've shared. In fact, its the one that you're teaching me right now...

It's the lesson on how to deal with adversity. It's a lesson that you teach me every day. You've persevered under the most difficult of circumstances and you've done so with incredible grace and dignity. I don't pretend to understand why you were afflicted with this awful disease; but I like to think that G-d will not present us with challenges that we cannot handle. You are a fighter. A Warrior Woman. A Survivor. And I am incredibly blessed to call you my Teacher. My friend. My Mom.

I love you very much,

Corey

Needless to say, tomorrow is a big day. We should probably get the results of the PET scan early next week. As soon as we get word, someone (be it me or YFC) will be sure to post the results. Now there is a possibility that, depending on the results, the doctors might want to explore different treatment options, but at this point it seems that Mom will be continuing with her current course of treatment. So, we expect that Mom will be continuing with her bi-weekly chemotherapy treatments and that she will be going in for further radiation treatment (TheraSpheres) at the end of the month (we don't have the date yet -- of course once known, it will be posted in The Chemo Chronicle).

(left: Mom at chemo)

Mom's had a pretty rough go of things lately. The doctor put her on a mild steroid to try to reduce some of the side effects of the disease. Hopefully that will be effective in reducing the frequency and severity of her fevers. Unfortunately, Mom's sleeping schedule has been severely disrupted as of late. I know that many of you have called to wish her well. Please try to call between the hours of 9:30am and 9:30pm because Mom's sleep schedule has been pretty erratic. In general, it's best to telephone in the morning, when possible.

Please say a prayer (or two) for Mom and keep her in your thoughts.

Faithfully,
Corey

PS

If you happen to talk with her, please don't mention the contents of this posting to my grandmother, Beverly (you may know her better as Bubbles the Clown), She'll be 85 in less than 2 weeks and to celebrate, we're going to have a small get together for her at The Drake Hotel (many thanks to Uncle Phil for helping out with the arrangements). Anyhow, we're going to hold off on telling G-Mom any details for a while. Plus, she'd kill me if she knew which picture I picked out for the blog.

Thanks for understanding.

(right: Bubby)