Update on My Mom

Many of you have been asking about my mom. For those of you who don't know, we found out that my mom has cancer. On August 8, she had a scan of her abdomen that showed a tumor in her uterus. She had a biopsy on it the following day, and our fears were confirmed. We just didn't know exactly what kind of cancer it was, or how widespread it was. On Aug. 20, she had a total hysterectomy, and we were devastated by the news that it had affected several of her lymph nodes, and possibly other organs (including her lungs). They told us there would be no cure, and that her prognosis was very, very bad. It is an extremely rare cancer, called MMMT (Malignant Mixed Mullerian Tumor)... or Mixed Mullerian Sarcoma. Because it is so rare, there aren't a lot of chemo treatments that have been tried and tested on it. In fact, the surgeon told my dad and me the day of her surgery that putting chemo in her would be like putting water in her veins. He actually hinted at the suggestion that no treatment would give her quality of life, and that maybe that was our best option. She had a horrible recovery from the surgery, where she suffered from Refeeding Syndrome and dysmotility, where her stomach had forgotten how to process food. She spent an entire week in the hospital (where I spent four of the nights with her... if you'd like to read about that experience, read my sister, Tracy's, blog HERE.) She finally came home, after they put a feeding tube into her, that bypassed her stomach, straight into her intestine, so that her body could get the nutrients it needed. So, she had a home health nurse visit her every day, take her blood, check the food pump, etc. My aunt, Kristene, has also been here (from St. George) a lot, helping with my mom's care. We love having Kristene here. She seems to brighten up the place. Luckily, my mom has slowly retrained herself on how to eat and process food- so she had the feeding tube taken out. She doesn't enjoy eating, however... especially every morning when I make her a healthy smoothie, and force it down her. She does it, though, without complaining... much. We met with a Medical Oncologist last week in Salt Lake, who didn't give us any false hope, but did suggest that we meet with a doctor in Provo, so that she could begin chemo down here, rather than up in Salt Lake. Today was my mom's appointment with Dr. Tudor down in Provo, who gave us the best news we have heard since August 8. He told us that there has been a study of people who have been diagnosed with the same kind of cancer that my mom has, and after five years of receiving the treatments that she's going to receive, 75% of them were still alive!!!! Those are GREAT odds, especially compared to the statistics we have heard since day one about this awful cancer.  So, anyway, we are feeling much better about things today than we have felt in a long time. She starts chemo on Oct. 2. It will last a few months, then she will go through radiation. It will be a long road, but hopefully it will end in a happy place--- but, not in heaven :) .