Update on Grandma Kitty

I realized that in my month long absence from blogging I left some things hanging on Grandma Kitty's condition and diagnosis of Cancer. I wanted to take the time now to do a little update on where we stand.

My Mom was diagnosed with neuroendocrine carcinoma. This is a cancer that usually starts in the small intestines or pancreas. One of the crappy things about this cancer is that the tumor kind of gets a mind of its own and can begin to put out hormones, which has caused really bad hot flashes for my mom. Once this cancer has metastasized it is terminal. Grandma Kitty's started in her small intestines and has spread to her liver and her lungs. This cancer will kill her, the question has just been when.

There are two kinds of neuroendocrine cancers, a fast growing and a slow growing. When my mom first met with the doctor at the Huntsman Cancer Institute he said that he thought her reports looked like it was the fast growing kind. What did that mean for us? It meant that if she did a hard dose of chemotherapy treatments for a year she could maybe live for 18 months to 2 years. If she did nothing, she would probably be dead in 3-6 months. Our hearts sunk and our minds reeled at the short amount of time we could be facing. The doctor was not certain that this was the her diagnosis, her tests were a little hard to read, so he ordered more tests.

It took about a week and a half to get all of the other tests done, more CT scans, an MRI, 24 hour urine, plus lots and lots of blood work. It was a very, very miserable week to ten days. My mind raced as to if my mom would even be around to see the birth of my new child and tried to deal with the fact that this baby that is to be her name sake may never even remember her. Like I said, really crappy wait.

As her test results came in she was able to meet with an oncologist in Boise whom consulted with the Doctor at Huntsmans and they decided that our situation was not quite as bad as originally thought. They decided that they believe she has the slow growing cancer. They said that with treatment she could live up to 10 more years. We were elated! Who would have thought you would ever be so happy that you cry to hear somebody say, "You only have 10 years left to live." But after looking the shorter route in the face we were very glad to take the extra time that the doctors were giving.

So, her treatment plan is now to take low doses of chemo shots once a month. They make her sick to her stomach and give her really bad diarrhea, but they slow the growth of the tumor. To start these out she had to do a two week run giving herself shots 3 times a day. It was pretty miserable, but she was excited to see the hot flashes subside. The next month they tried to give her a one dose shot to last the whole month, but the hot flashes returned so they had to give her some booster shots that she gives herself twice a day. They will keep playing with the dosage until they can hopefully have her on the once a month shot. We are really hoping that this medication will slow things down and buy us more time with her feeling as well as she can.

I have been amazed at my parents' strength as they have faced this challenge. My mom has always been the strong one emotionally in the family. My dad is a worrier. My mom has remained seemingly strong through the whole thing and puts on a really good face. My dad, has shown character I did not know possible. He broke down the first week that we found out, my mom told him he had to stay strong for her, and he has " screwed his courage to the sticking place" and pulled through for her. He asked her what she wanted to do with these last few years of her life and she told him that she wanted to see as many national parks as she could. So, that is the new plan. They have sold their boat and are trying to sell their truck, buying a traveling car and plan on seeing as many parks as they can, staying in hotels as they go. They are starting out this weekend with a trip to Zions National Park as they head home from Lake Powell.

I have known that my parents loved each other, and in my later teen years after watching them make it through some really tough times I knew they would be together forever. There love has not always been one that I would say was a sweet love or necessarily gentle. Fighting is somewhat of a sport for them. It has been something wonderful to watch as they have shown such sweet and tender moments of love for each other through this. They are done quietly and without pomp, but they are true and real. I am grateful for the time we have been given to try to show our Mama how much we love her and pay her back for all that she has done for the rest of us over the years.

So, here's to hoping for 10 years or more. We love you Grandma Kitty!