More bad fucking news
Jan. 13th, 2004 04:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grinninfooleAs I have posted here previously, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in October, and had surgery for it in early December. That procedure has turned out to be entirely successful, and the cancer hadn't spread beyond the initial tumor in her left breast. She still needs radiation treatment to 'salt the earth' as it were, but the president could safely land on an aircraft carrier and say mission accomplished in this case.
In the course of her tests preparing for the lumpectomy, however, the doctors spotted a dark mass in her right lung. In the unlikely event of it being another cancer, just in case, they had mom go in for a biopsy yesterday. Today, we have gotten the news: it is, in fact, a cancerous tumor. In fact, it appears to be completely unrelated to the breast cancer. So, right now, we are facing two possibilities: either the doctors are wrong, and mom has some other cancer that they have missed that is spreading; or she has won the reverse lottery and has indeed developed two completely independent cancers at the same time. Either option sucks.
The good news is that this cancer, like the other one, is small (only 1 cm in diameter), and can probably be dealt with through straightforward surgery and then prophylactic radiotherapy. Of course, they will have to open the chest cavity and keep mom overnight, but the folks at MA General seem to be pretty good at this stuff, and so it'll probably be OK. The real problem is the uncertainty. What else might mom have right now that we have missed, or might she develop soon? Will this be all? It's definitely stressing me out. Tonight, I'm going into Somerville to play Overpower with some friends, and my pal James was supposed to pick up a deck from Millari for me to use. Millari, quite innocently, grabbed the wrong box and so I don't have a deck to play. It'll be OK, but for ten minutes I was livid with anger. I knew it was dumb, but I couldn't stop myself. Then, suddenly, I realized what was bugging me: I wanted to be able to control something right now, if only something trivial. Knowing this, I feel much better. Mom told me to go and have fun tonight, since I'm skipping work and staying through tomorrow evening, and that's what I'm going to do.
Any of my readers who know my mom should please feel free to call her and extend their sympathies. She will appreciate it.
In the course of her tests preparing for the lumpectomy, however, the doctors spotted a dark mass in her right lung. In the unlikely event of it being another cancer, just in case, they had mom go in for a biopsy yesterday. Today, we have gotten the news: it is, in fact, a cancerous tumor. In fact, it appears to be completely unrelated to the breast cancer. So, right now, we are facing two possibilities: either the doctors are wrong, and mom has some other cancer that they have missed that is spreading; or she has won the reverse lottery and has indeed developed two completely independent cancers at the same time. Either option sucks.
The good news is that this cancer, like the other one, is small (only 1 cm in diameter), and can probably be dealt with through straightforward surgery and then prophylactic radiotherapy. Of course, they will have to open the chest cavity and keep mom overnight, but the folks at MA General seem to be pretty good at this stuff, and so it'll probably be OK. The real problem is the uncertainty. What else might mom have right now that we have missed, or might she develop soon? Will this be all? It's definitely stressing me out. Tonight, I'm going into Somerville to play Overpower with some friends, and my pal James was supposed to pick up a deck from Millari for me to use. Millari, quite innocently, grabbed the wrong box and so I don't have a deck to play. It'll be OK, but for ten minutes I was livid with anger. I knew it was dumb, but I couldn't stop myself. Then, suddenly, I realized what was bugging me: I wanted to be able to control something right now, if only something trivial. Knowing this, I feel much better. Mom told me to go and have fun tonight, since I'm skipping work and staying through tomorrow evening, and that's what I'm going to do.
Any of my readers who know my mom should please feel free to call her and extend their sympathies. She will appreciate it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-01-13 01:41 pm (UTC)We do have a cell phone now.
And remember if either you or M need to get away we're right here in Brighton and would love to see you.
Hugs and best of luck and prayers to your mom.
Give her my love.
no subject
Date: 2004-01-13 03:19 pm (UTC)