Thursday May 28, 2009 
Thursday May 28, 2009 My mom had a good year. When she was initially diagnosed in March of 2008 with metastatic breast cancer, we wouldn’t have dared to hope for the 12 months of relative good health she enjoyed following her radiation treatment. In fact, my sister and I had gotten a bit blasé about it – yeah, yeah, yeah, mom’s doing great. How are the kids?
So it was a shock to get the call on Thursday – her cancer is back, and with a vengeance, it appears. Her lymph nodes are now invaded, and her right arm is essentially crippled with pain from the tumor pressing on a nerve. Our good year, it seems, is over.
She’s going through a zillion tests – multiple MRIs, X-rays, scans. I’m flying to Cleveland next week so I can be with her and my sister when the oncologist interprets the results for us and gives us options for moving forward.
You, of course, don’t know my mom. So let me tell you a little bit about her. She was a depression baby – didn’t get to go to college because she needed to work and contribute to her family’s income. The lack of a college degree, though, is absolutely no indication of how bright and capable my mom is. A killer Scrabble and bridge player, she combines raw intelligence with common sense, a lively personality and sharp humor. I like to think I got her common sense and humor genes. Unfortunately, her social skills and ability to attract and keep large numbers of friends seems to have skipped me – and gone directly to our son, who shares his grandmother’s charm.
My mom is … such a mom. She knew her diagnosis a month ago, but chose not to tell us or anyone else until after Carolyn had the baby. She didn’t want to ruin the joy of that moment for us with bad news. So she held onto the secret and dealt with it alone. I can barely even write about this without tearing up.
I don’t know what’s going to happen. A year ago, I didn’t think she had a chance of making it for this long. But I also know that she lives life on her terms, and she could well surprise us again. So I send up a quiet little prayer asking that her pain can be managed and she maintains the quality of life that is so important to her.
Because she’s my mom. And I love her.
Posted by terrymckenzie ( May 28 2009, 03:48:39 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [5]
