Quick Update.....

We've been here for over two weeks now. It's been a fairly smooth adjustment. I feel more settled now that I have a library card. It just didn't seem right to live for more than a week without being able to check out a book. I'll also be able to use the Internet there, too, which will be wonderful. I feel like I am cut off from the world around me without the Internet. My job transfer has been much more complicated than I expected, but I think it has at last fallen into place and I should be able to start work the week of March first.

Mama went for her first visit to the cancer specialist the Tuesday after we got here. This specialist said pretty much the same thing that the one at home did -- that this cancer is incurable and treatment will help prolong her life for one or two years. He decided on two chemo drugs to start with and will possibly add two more. She went for her first treatment this Tuesday. When she got home, we were encouraged, because she felt a little dizzy and tired, but not terrible. The next day, she went to have a porta-cath put in her shoulder so she won't have to use an IV for each chemo treatment. On the way home from the hospital, she developed a fever. We had been told to take her to the local ER if she got a fever over 100.4. Her temperature was 102.3 when we took it, so we rushed to the ER. When they checked her temperature there, it was 103.8.

She has been in the hospital since then. Her fever keeps spiking and coming back down. The hospital she is taking the treatments at is over almost two hours from here, so the local hospital she is at have been trying to get her back there so her specialist can look at her. So far, a bed hasn't come available there. Today, the doctor told us that he thinks she is just having a reaction to the chemo because she shows no signs of infection. He might possibly send her home tomorrow if her fever stays under control. She has been really miserable. I'm wondering now if it is going to be like this with every chemo treatment.


So it has been a stressful week. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers so much. I really hope my mom can begin to feel better soon.

Leaving...

We are packing up what we can fit into the car for a move to our homestate. How long it will be for, we don't know yet. Grandpa's house doesn't have Internet, so I'm either going to have to go to my aunt's house to use their computer, or we might have some sort of temporary Internet connection hooked up. So, it might be harder for me to post for a little while, but I'll try to update everyone as soon as I can. I'm dreading the nine-hour car ride for Mama. I hope she won't have a hard time with it. I really hope this move will be beneficial for her and for all of us.

Ice Storm

We also had an ice storm during all this. At least it's pretty. :)

Changes

There are a lot of things going on now. We are planning to move back to our home state for my mom to take her treatments. For now, we are just going in on my dad's sick leave. He has over six months worth accumulated with his job. But, he is also putting in for a job there. We are really hoping he gets this job so we can move back home permanently.


Three of my aunts came up to visit us this weekend and they are on their way home today, taking a lot of our clothes and larger electronics with them. I went to my store Friday and asked if they could get me a transfer. The locations in our homestate will be 45-60 minutes away from where we'll be living, but I need to try to work even one or two days a week just to keep up my insurance until I can find something closer to home. Monday will be my last day at my job. I know I yell about my my job sometimes, but I'm really going to miss it. I made a lot of friends there and fit in pretty well there. I got along with my managers and knew my job. Now it's going to feel like starting over. Of course, our family and a lot of friends will be there, so that will help the transition, but it's still going to be an adjustment to move so quickly.

The most important thing now is finding Mama some good treatment. We have heard a few recommendations, so we're debating about where we should go. We're hoping that her specialist here can recommend a place.

So, this week we're packing up what we can and making arrangements for a partial move. It's going to be hard, but it will be good to be home again.