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"Weeks to Months"
2 years ago
General
Hello all.
I'd like to talk about my mom. She's alive, but I need to get stuff off my chest, and a semi-active profile seems to be a good place to spill the stuff. IDK.
My mom wanted to live to be 100. See the world in one century. The good, the bad - all of it. And I can't blame her. Being able to say "I lived till 100"? To be fair, I remember some people talked about ending themselves in their 30s or 40s cause they didn't want to be old. Many of them that I know of are still around and are getting up there but for my mom? She wanted to live.
A couple of years ago, my mom started to have some issues with breathing and such, and found some major issues with her heart, resulting in not one, not two, but three stents. She was determined to get better. She quit cigarettes while she was recovering - cold turkey. Thanks to hospital food and her no longer eating a bunch of food - she had been cutting back for a while - she actually dropped her weight over time to like 170-180. She looked good overall.
In addition to this, we discovered some bigger issues, such as one of her kidneys fully failing, and her other kidney barely functioning. And suddenly she had a nephrostomy tube - something that would let her kidney do less work so it could get better. She still has that tube.
She also was discovered to have an abdominal aneurysm.
Not long after, she was still having issues using the bathroom. Blockages, constipation, and even bloody stools and stuff. Blood in urine. She goes in for tests, and we discover that she has bladder cancer.
Fuck cancer.
She wasn't a candidate for surgery so we started with chemo for a few weeks. The growth shrank. She was going in for other appointments over time but we were hopeful she'd complete the treatment and get herself back to life. There was a bell at the treatment center, too. Patients would ring it when they finished treatment and beat that fucking evil beast we know as cancer.
Fuck cancer.
She was having some abdominal pain, and this was shortly after getting an operation to fix the aneurysm (I don't recall if it was an ablation or something else that was done). Pain continued over time, to the point she couldn't eat. Several tests in the emergency department later and we find out the cancer grew to nearly double it's original size. From about 5cm to two tiny spots, to 9cm.
Fuck cancer.
We start more aggressive treatment; surgery is just plain NOT an option at this point. It's harsher than before, but it has been looking promising. The cancer has been shrinking.
Fuck cancer.
Recently a cold went through our house. My mom didn't get terribly sick but they put her on antibiotics to make sure she didn't get infections or anything. She couldn't eat, barely holding down water. After she finished the antibiotics, things were getting better, except when that stopped. For a couple of days, she was getting super nauseous, throwing up brown vomit, and not holding anything down. Not even water.
Constipation and gas meds helped a bit but things got even worse. So into the hospital she went. That was last week.
They started her on a hydration treatment, and the blockage was going away, loosening up, she was starting to go. She got shifted to being able to SIP water, and by the end of this past week she was on track to go to a full liquid diet, and eventually solid food and discharge. Her 68th birthday (if my math is right) is on February 19th.
I had missed a few calls from the hospital as I work 9-4:30 weekdays (yay for normie boring office job! I even like playing solitaire! I am officially peak office worker!) but was able to talk to the doctor. He mentioned setting up a call on Friday to talk with the medical team on progress! This guy I've talked to before and always sounded pretty neutral even though the prior times we talked, he gave good news. So of course, my mom has been on the up and up, getting better slowly, so lets do this! Let's see when we can get her out of the hospital and back home! Finish up those cancer treatments, and get rid of this shit! Yeah, fuck cancer!
The call started with them talking about the treatments weren't being effective. First about the hydration attempts. And surgery isn't feasible for various reasons and risks. Shoot... alright, what's the next treatment option? More aggressive medication? Is surgery going to be riskier but worth it?
Nope.
Then they mentioned how the cancer treatment itself was no longer working. I mean, it WAS working really well. The rate of success with the treatment was good with others! But it's not working. So surely they're going to have to ramp it up! Nope. At best that would bring her closer to death even faster. Same with surgery.
Suddenly they were discussing a procedure that would, and I mostly quote "will let her eat for pleasure and taste".
Who the actual fuck ONLY eats for pleasure and taste? We fucking eat food because of energy. Nutrition! Yeah, pleasure and taste is certainly up there (hence why we have overpriced restaurants where you pay for a tiny. 1 inch round fillet mignon covered in gold leaf, $500 for two fucking bites of food).
They were discussing end of life care. Apparently, the blockage is due to the cancer that's growing. And when it causes obstructions in the stomach, even if stuff flows, it slows down. Slows down to the point of causing blockages again and again. And nothing could be done.
I did a google search. Prognosis is 1-9 months. My stomach started to do loops. Then I heard my mom ask... "how long would I have?" Their response is the name of this journal.
FUCK CANCER.
I'd like to talk about my mom. She's alive, but I need to get stuff off my chest, and a semi-active profile seems to be a good place to spill the stuff. IDK.
My mom wanted to live to be 100. See the world in one century. The good, the bad - all of it. And I can't blame her. Being able to say "I lived till 100"? To be fair, I remember some people talked about ending themselves in their 30s or 40s cause they didn't want to be old. Many of them that I know of are still around and are getting up there but for my mom? She wanted to live.
A couple of years ago, my mom started to have some issues with breathing and such, and found some major issues with her heart, resulting in not one, not two, but three stents. She was determined to get better. She quit cigarettes while she was recovering - cold turkey. Thanks to hospital food and her no longer eating a bunch of food - she had been cutting back for a while - she actually dropped her weight over time to like 170-180. She looked good overall.
In addition to this, we discovered some bigger issues, such as one of her kidneys fully failing, and her other kidney barely functioning. And suddenly she had a nephrostomy tube - something that would let her kidney do less work so it could get better. She still has that tube.
She also was discovered to have an abdominal aneurysm.
Not long after, she was still having issues using the bathroom. Blockages, constipation, and even bloody stools and stuff. Blood in urine. She goes in for tests, and we discover that she has bladder cancer.
Fuck cancer.
She wasn't a candidate for surgery so we started with chemo for a few weeks. The growth shrank. She was going in for other appointments over time but we were hopeful she'd complete the treatment and get herself back to life. There was a bell at the treatment center, too. Patients would ring it when they finished treatment and beat that fucking evil beast we know as cancer.
Fuck cancer.
She was having some abdominal pain, and this was shortly after getting an operation to fix the aneurysm (I don't recall if it was an ablation or something else that was done). Pain continued over time, to the point she couldn't eat. Several tests in the emergency department later and we find out the cancer grew to nearly double it's original size. From about 5cm to two tiny spots, to 9cm.
Fuck cancer.
We start more aggressive treatment; surgery is just plain NOT an option at this point. It's harsher than before, but it has been looking promising. The cancer has been shrinking.
Fuck cancer.
Recently a cold went through our house. My mom didn't get terribly sick but they put her on antibiotics to make sure she didn't get infections or anything. She couldn't eat, barely holding down water. After she finished the antibiotics, things were getting better, except when that stopped. For a couple of days, she was getting super nauseous, throwing up brown vomit, and not holding anything down. Not even water.
Constipation and gas meds helped a bit but things got even worse. So into the hospital she went. That was last week.
They started her on a hydration treatment, and the blockage was going away, loosening up, she was starting to go. She got shifted to being able to SIP water, and by the end of this past week she was on track to go to a full liquid diet, and eventually solid food and discharge. Her 68th birthday (if my math is right) is on February 19th.
I had missed a few calls from the hospital as I work 9-4:30 weekdays (yay for normie boring office job! I even like playing solitaire! I am officially peak office worker!) but was able to talk to the doctor. He mentioned setting up a call on Friday to talk with the medical team on progress! This guy I've talked to before and always sounded pretty neutral even though the prior times we talked, he gave good news. So of course, my mom has been on the up and up, getting better slowly, so lets do this! Let's see when we can get her out of the hospital and back home! Finish up those cancer treatments, and get rid of this shit! Yeah, fuck cancer!
The call started with them talking about the treatments weren't being effective. First about the hydration attempts. And surgery isn't feasible for various reasons and risks. Shoot... alright, what's the next treatment option? More aggressive medication? Is surgery going to be riskier but worth it?
Nope.
Then they mentioned how the cancer treatment itself was no longer working. I mean, it WAS working really well. The rate of success with the treatment was good with others! But it's not working. So surely they're going to have to ramp it up! Nope. At best that would bring her closer to death even faster. Same with surgery.
Suddenly they were discussing a procedure that would, and I mostly quote "will let her eat for pleasure and taste".
Who the actual fuck ONLY eats for pleasure and taste? We fucking eat food because of energy. Nutrition! Yeah, pleasure and taste is certainly up there (hence why we have overpriced restaurants where you pay for a tiny. 1 inch round fillet mignon covered in gold leaf, $500 for two fucking bites of food).
They were discussing end of life care. Apparently, the blockage is due to the cancer that's growing. And when it causes obstructions in the stomach, even if stuff flows, it slows down. Slows down to the point of causing blockages again and again. And nothing could be done.
I did a google search. Prognosis is 1-9 months. My stomach started to do loops. Then I heard my mom ask... "how long would I have?" Their response is the name of this journal.
FUCK CANCER.
All of the best to you and yours. Be safe out there.