OT: Good news about my mom!
I wanted to shout this out from the rooftops so this is just as good as it's going to get. Essentially, my mom responded much better to radiation than the experts ever expected. The treatment that she received essentially knocked much of the cancer lodged in her brain. All the symptoms she's been experiencing now are the long-term effects of radiation, NOT cancer. The doctor said my mom's case was textbook worthy - THAT's how shocking the results were.
Her primary cancer, despite the fact that she hasn't done treatment for a year, hasn't spread, although the tumor has grown a tad.
So seven months after my mom was supposed to be dead, my mom quit hospice and is now resuming treatment.
The one sad thing about this is that my sister wasn't there to receive the news. My dad didn't bother inviting her because she never bothered to show up when she was invited. So she heard the good news secondhand.
I can't help but feel guilty that I didn't call her when we heard the news. At the same time, I'm glad that I wasn't there when she saw my parents and started saying "I told you so!!" Which frankly confuses all of us.
But onward and upward. And yes, we know that my mom still has cancer, but we're going to take any victory we can get.
And thanks you all so much for listening to me vent at all hours of the day.