23rd September 2009
My sister and I were both on holiday in different parts of Majorca and my mom had to go in to hospital to have a biopsy of her lung. A shadow had shown on a chest x-ray but at this point we had not been too concerned as mom had a shadow previously which was as a result of scaring from pneumonia which she had suffered following the birth of our youngest brother. Mom had also lost a huge amount of weight but this we had put down to stress as her dad had died in November 2008 and in February 2009 we lost my dad suddenly and unexpectedly. Mom was uncomfortable following the biopsy but we all remained positive.
5th October 2009
Mom had an appointment to see the Thoracic consultant who had referred her for the biopsy for the results. I went with her and we were nervous over the results as she had been called back so quickly. We chatted as we waited to be seen and that wait seemed a life time. We were then called through to a nice roon with comfortable chairs. The consultant and a nurse I knew as I work for the hospital were present and I was immediately anxious as I was now expecting bad news.
The doctor told us that the biopsy had come back as malignant. That word seemed to echo in my ears but it seemed to take a while for mom to understand what they had said. They went on to tell us that it was non small cell lung cancer whcih was non operable. It was a small slow growing tumour in the upper lobe of moms lung. There were nodules on the chest wall but these were contained to the chest cavity. Mom was to be referred to see an oncologist to discuss her options but we were told that chemotherapy would be the likely treatment.
There were lots of tears as we tried to take on what we had been told and we left in a daze not knowing what to say to each other. We met my partner for a chat as I knew he would help mom put a smile on and think things through clearly. We then left to go and tell my sister the news which we were both dreading.
The rest of the family were also devastated and could not believe what we were being told but we were clinging to hope that as the tumour was small it may have been found soon enough for a positive outcome.
13th October 2009
I took mom to see the oncologist and lots of options were discussed. Mom could try chemo to see if had any effect on the tumour. She could have palliative radiotherapy or we could do nothing. If we did nothing were told mom may have 6 - 8 months. With radiotherapy possibly 8 - 12 months and if she tried chemo and it worked she could possibly have 12 - 18 months or even as much as 2 years. The down side to the chemo is obviously all the nasty side effects plus mom would have an increased risk of having a stroke. She was not in the best of health to start with and this would test her completely. There is also no guarantee the chemo will work, we were told 40/60.
20th October 2009
I took mom back to see the oncologist to tell him she had decided that she wanted to give chemo a try. This should hopefully start in the next week or so. Mom is only able to have one type of chemo for two reasons. Firstly she is still smoking and secondly her kidneys are not functioning well enough to withstand much. I am so proud of how she is dealing with this as I can see she is scared but she is prepared to give all she has in an attempt to fight this as long as she can.
Mom we are there with you and will be every step of the way. I love you more than I have ever probably told you but I will ensure that in what time we have left that you do not doubt it for one second. I intend to make sure you live your life to the fullest that you can for as long as you can.
