Unfortunately not all of my blog posts can be happy ones. This blog will not be a warm-fuzzy.

As most of you already know, my mother has terminal cancer. She was diagnosed December 2004 with pancreatic cancer, and was given 3 months to live. After some CAT and PET scans, the oncologist said the cancer moved from her pancreas to her liver. This was good news as there is a much better prognosis for liver cancer than pancreatic cancer. Mom did pretty well the next couple years until the cancer stopped responding to the chemo, and began to spread. Let’s fast forward to a week ago.

It all started on the first of February. Friday evening, my mother fell and could not get up. Luckily that day, my sister had installed a medical alert. Mom wears a necklace with a button that she can press to call for help. The alert rings hospice, and they come on an intercom and can communicate with Mom. She explained that she had fallen and couldn’t get up (remember the Clapper commercials?) Hospice sent someone to Mom’s apartment to help her. Since the hospice nurse didn’t have a key to the apartment, they had to contact maintenance who let in the nurse.

My sister Cheryl told hospice to leave a key under the mat when they left, and then called me to get someone to pick it up to make copies. Audrey called her mother, and sent her over to retrieve the key. Well, as luck would have it, Mom fell again on Saturday morning, hospice was called, and guess what? They couldn’t get in because they didn’t have a key, and the only key was with Audrey’s mother. Once again, maintenance was called, and the nurse helped Mom up off the floor.

The two falls really scared Mom. It made her realize her mortality. She cried and told my sister that she didn’t want to be alone. We knew this was the turning point. Over the next week, Mom progressed rapidly to the point that I didn’t recognize her when I arrived on Friday. It has been a really hard weekend. My sister and I are staying with Mom around the clock taking care of her. We’re taking shifts to assist as Mom requires help at all hours of the day.

I will go into more detail later when I’ve had more sleep, but for now please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers.

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