Mom Update From McSister

Dear Friends,
This update is overdue, I apologize. Mom is still at the Hospice and I think she will be staying here. Our alternatives are locations with shared rooms for little savings, so for now, we are settled.

After speaking with mom's oncologist, we received more specific info and mom said she wanted me to share this with you. The tumor in her hip has not only grown, it had doubled in size from her previous scan. The aggressive increase is one of the main reasons the Dr. suggested hospice. We pushed the Dr. for some understanding of timing and they were resistant to predicting anything that would give us false hope or hope falsely, but we pushed. With their experience and understanding of this disease, they are estimating 3-4 months. That is an estimate only and no one can be specific. They do feel that it is an aggressive cancer though.

Over the next few months, we can expect the pain in mom's hip to increase. We can also expect her breathing to become more and more labored. She's on oxygen and has been since we left the hospital in February. The Hospice nurses are giving her lots of pain medication and it seems they are increasing the amount she takes every other day at least.

Some days are good, some are bad. Yesterday/last night was one of the bad ones. This morning, she felt "just fine". I anticipate this will continue to be a roller coaster for her as the cancer continues to spread. She has said that she feels herself going further backwards every day.

She's sleeping more and more. It is helpful to call around meal times if you are going to do so (8, 12 & 5 all mountain time). Getting woken up from a good sleep is tough (I'm usually the one waking her up though). She's had a few visitors which has really made her spirits soar (thank to you guys!). She can't talk much so the phone calls are tough, but she still loves walking down memory lane. If you want to call to remind her of a story or experience, she would love it!! She still appreciates a good joke too - nothing is off limits, but we all know that. This is Mom we're talking about!

She has also asked me if I think it is weird to plan your own funeral. I said I didn't think so, so she's glad that she can contribute some ideas and plans for the memorial when that does finally take place. I agree that she should be as involved in these details now as she would like.

This is hard on all of us, especially Mom, who is one of the bravest and toughest women I've ever known! We appreciate your support and the cards/letters you've been sending. Going forward, my trips to her condo are fewer and farther between, so please send letters directly to me, and I will take them to her.

McSister