Update 3/3/08

I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in a couple of days. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster here.

Saturday - By saturday morning, the 'lil morphine lollipop had kicked in, and my mom got to feeling better. My brother's family all came over and spent most of the afternoon with us. It was great to see my mom feeling better. She even ate a little bit of turkey with her crackers. Then came the evening...

...she started with the stomach cramping again, so we tried little bits of the lollipop. She woke up several times in the night with the pain, and the morsphine lollipop was hardly working. Apparently the morphine patch wasn't either. It had kicked in at some point on Saturday evening, but apparently it wasn't strong enough.

Sunday morning - pain, pain, more pain. My mom wasn't able to eat but a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt. Then immediately the pain would come. She couldn't drink either. She could eat the crunchy Sonic ice, but only little bits at a time. We tried another morphine patch but knew it would take 12 hrs to kick in. Around 4 pm we noticed she had fever. She was in the fetal position because of the pain. I don't remember experiencing anything this gut-wrenching. My heart was beyond broken, and we just didn't know what to do.

Well, that's what ER's are for. We got to the ER around 4:30, and she was admitted immediately. Her potassium was low, but at least not as low as it had gotten before her last trip to the ER, as was her magnesium. So they set up the IV with potassium, magnesium, and an antibiotic in the case of an infection. Since her body is immune-compromised right now, it can't fight infections by itself. They wanted to take a precaution in case the fever was from an infection. Then they hooked us up with a different kind of morphine. This stuff worked. You know, I'm all about natural stuff, but I have NEVER EVER been more thankful for medical technology. Thank you, Jesus! So after whatever the name of the stuff they gave her went through the IV, my mom was already feeling better.

They did run all kinds of blood tests and xrays. All came back a-okay. You know what was really incredible? The radiation doctor showed up when he heard she had been admitted. We see him weekly, but it's not his responsibility to show up in these situations. Most of the time they're not even aware until later. Not only did he come, but he came! It was a huge deal to us, and let me just take this time to say how incredible he is. This doctor is going to get extra little blessings in heaven for his kindness towards us.

Okay, so everything came back fine, but they wouldn't release my mom until her potassium had gone back to normal. They have to pump it very slowly so that there's no heart damage. The radiation doc looked at all of the tests himself and then talked to us.

The fever - he believes it was a 'tumor' fever - the tumor breaking down a little bit - GREAT NEWS! He said that could also be the reason for the severe stomach cramps. Yes, low potassium can cause muscle spasms, but it's not typically the stomach, and it wouldn't be that bad. So in his words, "I'm so sorry I can't give you a definite answer on the abdominal pain. Medical technology is imperfect, and I'm sorry we can't give you the cause; BUT at least we can take care of the symptom, AND we've made sure it wasn't any obstruction or anything of concern..."

His empathy, honesty, and care really encouraged us.

GREAT NEWS AGAIN - instead of the 6 radation treatments my mom had left, he's taking it down to 3! That means that Wednesday of this week will be the last of it. I'll explain on another blog more of the details of the science of why she couldn't stop at 22 treatments but can stop at 25. She'll still feel the most serious side effects for about 10 days after the last treatment, but the radiation itself will keep working for another month or so. Unless something changes today, Wednesday is the last of this radiation nonsense. THANK YOU, GOD!

Today - the pain is in control, and we're just gonna keep using the magic lil pill along with the morphine patches. They seem to do the trick together.

*relief*

I can't begin to explain how awful it was to see my mom in so much pain. Unlike her daughter, she can take quite a bit. I know when she complains about pain, it's serious. So when she moans and groans from it, ugh...again, I don't think my heart has ever hurt so much.

BUT our faith remains in Jesus. We have been comforted by Him through your love and prayers. I can't express my thanks to you for your love for me and my mom. I need you and thank you for standing with me/us through all of this. God is greater than any sickness or disease and will show Himself strong and faithful.

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord