My Other Writing

The brief time and energy I have for writing these days goes towards keeping the CaringBridge site for Bundle of Joy's mama updated.  But, it's occurred to me that even though it certainly isn't my "normal writing", at least you'd know what I've been up to if I share it here with you, too.

So, with the names tweaked for obvious reasons, here's the most recent "big" (NOT to be read as a positive adjective) news:

A New Plan - Nov 3, 2014

Mama & her boy.

It’s taken me a while to write this post. My first version was WAY too emotional.

H’s most recent trip to Mayo (the week of October 13th) did not end well. Not for her and J. Not for their children. Not for their families. Not for you. Not for me.

They spent both Monday and Tuesday in consultations and tests in (the anticipated) preparation for the 4th chemo treatment and five weeks of radiation treatments. Testing went late on Tuesday and they decided to postpone the next chemo due to plain old exhaustion. Ten minutes north of Rochester on their way home Wednesday morning, they received a call from (one of) their oncologist(s).

“How far away are you? Can you turn around and come back to the clinic. We need to talk.”

The scans, the tests showed that the cancer has spread. It is now in her abdominal cavity and in more of the lymph nodes. The three chemo treatments have not made any difference (yet). Upon closer examination and conference within her oncology team, continued chemo and the 5 weeks of radiation would have a less than 5% chance of readying her for surgery. I.e., there would be only a slight chance – AFTER enduring all that – of the tumors shrinking enough for the surgeons to do their work.  And, with this diagnosis came a general estimation of (life)time remaining for our wonderful, sweet H of 2 years. (I cannot express to you how difficult that is to write.)

With tears, prayers and time to absorb this worst imaginable news, H has decided that it’s simply not worth it to continue with the ineffective (it seems) chemo and futile radiation. To go through more chemo that her body handles so poorly and to be so weak for so long following each treatment, to be away from her children for 5 days for each of 5 weeks taking radiation treatments that there’s a 95% chance of not even working . . . the decision was almost made for her.

So, they are taking a BREAK from all the icky stuff that makes her so sick and weak. No more chemo for now. No radiation. No long absences from home.

But this does NOT mean H is not being proactive! Just the opposite: she is fighting even harder with a new battle plan based on a well-supported alternative cancer treatment reinforced by diet, exercise, and prayer.

And, it’s a decision that seems to suit! H looks GOOD, and I think she’s found much more peace now that she’s taken back the control (as much as one can have in a situation like this) of her own treatment. She’s getting out for a walk almost each day (vs. not even having the energy/strength to hold the twins following chemo treatments!); has an APPETITE again (hip, hip, HOORAY!) and is eating an organic, basically Paleo diet (protein & veggies - no wheat, very few grains, no sugar) with a focus on the new-found regenerative properties of bone broths.

The fabulous oncology team at Mayo will continue to meet with H for consultations, tests, and scans. Their next visit is scheduled for this week. At this point, the plan is to wait for the next (cancer) scan for 4 or 6 months . . . after which we’ll know whether or not the initial chemo followed by her alternative treatments have resulted in any positive changes!

What can you do? Pray like you’ve never prayed before. Pray for peace for H and J. Strength for them both, too. And pray for the miracle we so desperately need. I know I speak for each of you reading this when I say that we’ll all help H ‘DARE to Live!’