Posted By: LtHousLady
Prayers for my sister - 05/31/06 12:31 AM
I saw this folder today while feeling down..and it says don't be shy!
Back in early December, my sister was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 38. She is only 11 months older than me. With 6 seperate lessions (the largest measuring 4 cm), the pressure in her brain caused her to lose control of her body & mind. They were not tumors. They were within the brain mass & inoperable.
She started Chemo immediately after she was diagnosed. 3 different kinds..1 once a week, 1 bi-weekly & 1 kind of 1ce a month but it had some wierd calculation to figure out when to take it. And that was just the chemo...there are tons of other meds. Antibiotics, blood thinners, mood controlers, things to help her sleep...We needed a friggin flow chart to keep track!
The hardest thing I've ever done in my life was being one of the people who took care of her around the clock for close to 3 months. I completely shut down my business until it was time to work on the LI Lighthouse Challenge stuff and friends & family from my husbands side pitched in to help free me up full time. It wasn't supposed to be like this but I couldn't let complete strangers do it.
We're supposed to be watching our kids play together & coffee clotch...not chasing her down the hall at 3am when she thought it was time to make breakfast! We chuckle at that one now...she refers to it as "when I was retarted". She got her mind functioning back, but she's still not the old Jen".
We've made great headway considering the mortality rate associated with this disease. For New Years we learned that they were already 50% smaller! The last MRI showed that we are down to 1 very small visible lession & she's been tolerating it extremely well...until now.
For the past week she's been extremely ill. Losing weight, and for the first time, losing her hair. My mother didn't have the heart to tell her that it looked very thin today. Her white blood cell count fell through the floor & even if she felt well enough, we're not allowed to take her anywhere. Doesn't really matter since she cant walk 5 ft without becoming exhausted.
In between taking her to dr & hospital visits, work, kids & my new outlook, "do what you want to do before it's too late!"has kept me occupied.(I joined a blues band & we have our public debut on Saturday!) It's good & bad. I feel guilty that I don't have more time to give & about the toll it's taking on my mother. I feel like we got lulled into a false sense of security with her progress & now it's time to wake up & feel the worry again.
I figured some extra prayers couldn't hurt. She needs to beat this so she can watch her kids grow up...& so we can grow old together like we're supposed to.
Thanks for giving me a spot ramble. Feeling like I've pulled it out & put it somewhere else does help.
Back in early December, my sister was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 38. She is only 11 months older than me. With 6 seperate lessions (the largest measuring 4 cm), the pressure in her brain caused her to lose control of her body & mind. They were not tumors. They were within the brain mass & inoperable.
She started Chemo immediately after she was diagnosed. 3 different kinds..1 once a week, 1 bi-weekly & 1 kind of 1ce a month but it had some wierd calculation to figure out when to take it. And that was just the chemo...there are tons of other meds. Antibiotics, blood thinners, mood controlers, things to help her sleep...We needed a friggin flow chart to keep track!
The hardest thing I've ever done in my life was being one of the people who took care of her around the clock for close to 3 months. I completely shut down my business until it was time to work on the LI Lighthouse Challenge stuff and friends & family from my husbands side pitched in to help free me up full time. It wasn't supposed to be like this but I couldn't let complete strangers do it.
We're supposed to be watching our kids play together & coffee clotch...not chasing her down the hall at 3am when she thought it was time to make breakfast! We chuckle at that one now...she refers to it as "when I was retarted". She got her mind functioning back, but she's still not the old Jen".
We've made great headway considering the mortality rate associated with this disease. For New Years we learned that they were already 50% smaller! The last MRI showed that we are down to 1 very small visible lession & she's been tolerating it extremely well...until now.
For the past week she's been extremely ill. Losing weight, and for the first time, losing her hair. My mother didn't have the heart to tell her that it looked very thin today. Her white blood cell count fell through the floor & even if she felt well enough, we're not allowed to take her anywhere. Doesn't really matter since she cant walk 5 ft without becoming exhausted.
In between taking her to dr & hospital visits, work, kids & my new outlook, "do what you want to do before it's too late!"has kept me occupied.(I joined a blues band & we have our public debut on Saturday!) It's good & bad. I feel guilty that I don't have more time to give & about the toll it's taking on my mother. I feel like we got lulled into a false sense of security with her progress & now it's time to wake up & feel the worry again.
I figured some extra prayers couldn't hurt. She needs to beat this so she can watch her kids grow up...& so we can grow old together like we're supposed to.
Thanks for giving me a spot ramble. Feeling like I've pulled it out & put it somewhere else does help.