Hey Humble Readers...
Wow, it's been a day.
Started off with Pip giving me an extra early wake-up call (5:30am), then we had a small disaster after breakfast when a framed picture on a shelf in the living room fell and took a glass vase full of sand with it. Both the frame and the vase shattered on the tv stand and sent glass everywhere. Miraculously, Pip, who was less than 3 feet away from the whole mess didn't get a scratch.
After I got that cleaned up, I settled Pip for his morning nap and gave Ginny a bath. We decided that today would be another go round of potty training, so I moved the potty to the kitchen and got the little miss into her training pants. Two and a half hours later all I had to show for it was a pile of laundry. We went through all six pairs of quilted training pants. **sigh** We'll give it another go tomorrow morning.
This afternoon was about keeping the wee little man happy, and trying to get some housework done. All I managed to accomplish was sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. But, I did finally have someone respond to my kijiji ad for the bassinet who actually showed up (have had four or five people interested but they never came by to look at it) and paid full asking price.
And then I got the phone call...
You might remember that I was rather concerned on Friday that my Mom's primary care physician wanted to see her today. I was concerned that it was going to be be bad news about "the spot" that she had removed last week. Thankfully, the appointment wasn't about that, and the doc isn't concerned about the spot, as he's certain the oncologist removed all of it. Whew, good news.
My mom's main doc is also my grandmother's main doc. And it wasn't good news.
My grandma, who has been in a nursing home for the last four years, ever since she had a series of physically debilitating strokes, has just been diagnosed with lung cancer.
We have known for a couple of months that she hasn't been well, but she's been ill before and she always surprises us and bounced back. But this is different. She's been complaining of stomach pain and has been eating very little. Back before Christmas Dr. W ordered some tests. It was the MRI last week that finally revealed the big picture.
GG (what we all call Grandma... ever since the first great-grandchild was born) has had a very poor quality of life since her strokes. She was a very active, social person, so losing her ability to communicate clearly and only having use of her right arm have been taxing. Her mental accuity has also slipped quite a bit. She doesn't remember my wee-lings' names (calls them 'the babies') and she struggles to remember who my Beloved is.
Of course, when Dr. W asked, my mom reiterated GG's wishes. No interventions, other than what's needed to keep her comfortable. No surgery. No chemo or radiation. The prognosis is anywhere between one and nine months. Mom is not that optomistic.
My head knows that it will be a blessing when GG passes. She would never have wanted to live this way, confined to a bed or wheelchair, eating mush for every meal, and never knowing if it's 2013 or 1957. And she never wanted extraordinary measures, even when she had the strokes.
By my heart hurts at the knowledge that I will most likely not see her alive again. For the last few years, whenever we've gone out to K-town, I'd resigned myself to the fact that when we left it might have been the last time I would get to see her, but it doesn't make today any easier.
Showing posts with label cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cancer. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2013
Friday, January 25, 2013
Hobbit-ish Potpurri: News & Updates
Hey Humble Readers...
Well, I'm back. Beauregard the laptop is back in my posession and is actually running better than what it did when I first got it. I got the computer back a couple of days ago, but because they had to completely wipe the hard drive, it's taken me some time to get things back to the way I like them. Thank heaven I had backed up all the pictures on Picasa. And the computer tech guys were able to save the files that I was most concerned about losing from my writing and my plethora of lists! Yay!
*****
My Beloved's first few days at his new job have gone well. He says it's a much more professional environment than he's been accustomed to. And it's a rather posh office... a newly built building with granite countertops in the bathrooms and a water feature in the reception area. Still in the dark on the medical benefits (which is one of my main concerns) but all in all, he seems happy and excited about his work. A couple of little bummers... he has to leave a half hour earlier in the morning, and he can't come home for lunch any more. I miss that little bit of adult conversation in the middle of the day and he misses seeing the wee-lings.
*****
My mom has had a bit of a health scare. (Just a reminder that my mom is a 6 time cancer survivor - cervical, uterine, lung, melanoma, lymphoma, lesions on her brain) One of her past cancer issues was a melanoma on her forehead by her left temple. A month ago she found a small spot on her forehead on the right temple. Given her history, her doctors didn't want to mess around, and so yesterday they removed the spot. It was a little over 4mm, and it was sent for further testing. I've been able to keep my concerns in check until today, because I found out that her main doc wants to see her on Monday morning. Part of me knows that it's likely just to check on the incision and possibly remove the stitches, but I'm still anxious. I know that she absolutely doesn't have the emotional reserves right now, with everything going on with the divorce, to deal with a full on cancer battle again. DOESN'T SHE DESERVE A BREAK?!?!
*****
I'm hesitant to say this, but I think we may be past the sleep regression situation. At least for the time being. We changed up the bedtime routine a bit. Ginny and Pippin both go to bed at the same time now. We do teeth brushing, stories, and prayers together now, whereas before we would put Ginny down first and then put Pip down an hour or so later. We are doing a modified version of Ferber (I think that's the name of it anyway), where one of us will go in and comfort him a bit every 10 or 15 minutes if he's fussing. In the last couple of days we've only had to go in twice. I was just so hesitant to do that, because I didn't want his crying to upset Ginny's sleep (and I really don't like CIO), but my Beloved was adamant that we give it a try... and it's worked. And it seems like Ginny's settling a little quicker now too.
QUESTION: Have any of you found that your baby had a tough time learning to self soothe if they didn't learn to suck their thumb? (we don't use pacifiers either)
*****
Goals for 2013 Update: I'm well into my third book of the year already. I'm very happy that I've gotten such a good start on my reading goal for the year. Other goals have been very slow to start. I have been better with my line-a-day journal, but my weightloss has plateaued at 19.6lb down (since November). Workouts have been pretty much non-existent (hence the plateau), but I have booked an appointment for a hair cut tomorrow (my first since last April). And I'm planning on colouring my hair next weekend. Potty training... oh heavens... I am so lame. I am going to get on that on Monday. My daily to do lists have remained unaccomplished mostly for the last couple of weeks, but I'm allowing myself some slack there because of Pippin's sleep issues for the last two weeks.
*****
What's been the highlight of your week so far?
Well, I'm back. Beauregard the laptop is back in my posession and is actually running better than what it did when I first got it. I got the computer back a couple of days ago, but because they had to completely wipe the hard drive, it's taken me some time to get things back to the way I like them. Thank heaven I had backed up all the pictures on Picasa. And the computer tech guys were able to save the files that I was most concerned about losing from my writing and my plethora of lists! Yay!
*****
My Beloved's first few days at his new job have gone well. He says it's a much more professional environment than he's been accustomed to. And it's a rather posh office... a newly built building with granite countertops in the bathrooms and a water feature in the reception area. Still in the dark on the medical benefits (which is one of my main concerns) but all in all, he seems happy and excited about his work. A couple of little bummers... he has to leave a half hour earlier in the morning, and he can't come home for lunch any more. I miss that little bit of adult conversation in the middle of the day and he misses seeing the wee-lings.
*****
My mom has had a bit of a health scare. (Just a reminder that my mom is a 6 time cancer survivor - cervical, uterine, lung, melanoma, lymphoma, lesions on her brain) One of her past cancer issues was a melanoma on her forehead by her left temple. A month ago she found a small spot on her forehead on the right temple. Given her history, her doctors didn't want to mess around, and so yesterday they removed the spot. It was a little over 4mm, and it was sent for further testing. I've been able to keep my concerns in check until today, because I found out that her main doc wants to see her on Monday morning. Part of me knows that it's likely just to check on the incision and possibly remove the stitches, but I'm still anxious. I know that she absolutely doesn't have the emotional reserves right now, with everything going on with the divorce, to deal with a full on cancer battle again. DOESN'T SHE DESERVE A BREAK?!?!
*****
I'm hesitant to say this, but I think we may be past the sleep regression situation. At least for the time being. We changed up the bedtime routine a bit. Ginny and Pippin both go to bed at the same time now. We do teeth brushing, stories, and prayers together now, whereas before we would put Ginny down first and then put Pip down an hour or so later. We are doing a modified version of Ferber (I think that's the name of it anyway), where one of us will go in and comfort him a bit every 10 or 15 minutes if he's fussing. In the last couple of days we've only had to go in twice. I was just so hesitant to do that, because I didn't want his crying to upset Ginny's sleep (and I really don't like CIO), but my Beloved was adamant that we give it a try... and it's worked. And it seems like Ginny's settling a little quicker now too.
QUESTION: Have any of you found that your baby had a tough time learning to self soothe if they didn't learn to suck their thumb? (we don't use pacifiers either)
*****
Goals for 2013 Update: I'm well into my third book of the year already. I'm very happy that I've gotten such a good start on my reading goal for the year. Other goals have been very slow to start. I have been better with my line-a-day journal, but my weightloss has plateaued at 19.6lb down (since November). Workouts have been pretty much non-existent (hence the plateau), but I have booked an appointment for a hair cut tomorrow (my first since last April). And I'm planning on colouring my hair next weekend. Potty training... oh heavens... I am so lame. I am going to get on that on Monday. My daily to do lists have remained unaccomplished mostly for the last couple of weeks, but I'm allowing myself some slack there because of Pippin's sleep issues for the last two weeks.
*****
What's been the highlight of your week so far?
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