Finally some good news! My wife and I arrived last night to visit and had some good news today. My father took my mom in to see her doctor. Based on my mother's strength and resilience they have canceled the hospice program and suggested she resume chemotherapy. While chemotherapy can be pretty brutal, it means that there is a chance to beat the cancer!
This will be the fourth different chemotherapy treatment that my mother will go through in more than six years. The program will be once a week through injections of Topotecan (Hycamtin). Chemotherapy basically kills off the cancer cells, but it also does a lot of other damage and comes with the usual nausea, hair loss and other side effects. You wouldn't wish it upon your worst enemy.
Since chemotherapy can be very hard on a person, my mom will need to get stronger to keep the regimen going. Her eyes and smile are bright, but she is thinner than even just 2 weeks ago when I was here. Her weight is down under a hundred pounds, about 20 pounds lighter than normal.
Still, she is in an upbeat mood. "Cancel the funeral," she joked. "I just told people I had cancer to see who my friends really are."
So there is hope. And for that we are grateful.
- Hycamtin: Ovarian Cancer
I do not think I would have ever caught myself saying chemotherapy was good news until this evening. This is very good news to hear. Your mother is an inspiration! and I might add, she has an awesome sense of humor.
Posted by: Dalene | February 02, 2006 at 10:58 PM
Awesome news..always have Hope!Thanks for sharing your mothers life with us..Her story gives hope to all fighting cancer!
Posted by: Alle | February 03, 2006 at 05:28 AM