Wednesday, November 08, 2006
update on grandpa
so, on top of everything else that has been happening, my mom called me yesterday and said that my grandpa has brain cancer.here's a copy of the email she sent out:
Nov. 7, 2006,
Hello all,
This has been a day of many phone calls. At one time Gloria was talking to Brian and Renee at the same time, then to Brian and myself with one phone on each ear. : ) Like I said in an earlier e-mail, this is the most we've talked in a long time. Praise God for the communication technology of the day.
Anyway, the day started with a phone call from Mom notifying us that the cat scan done yesterday revealed cancer in Dad's brain. By the end of the day Dr. Cane (sp), Dad's primary physician, had called me with the details of treatment options, etc. His goal was to contact all of the siblings. We thank him very much for doing this extra thing for us. After everyone speaking to everyone, here's where it stands. The tumor is about 1" big just behind the speech center of the brain. And there is another mass in there and some swelling is going on. This may be the cause for Dad's right side not to be working very well, for his inability to communicate, and the moaning, etc. The doctor recommended making him as comfortable as possible at this point. Dad is very weak, not nutritionally strong-hasn't been eating well-and aggressive treatment (i.e. surgery or radiation) would do way more harm than good. So, he gave him some medicine to reduce the swelling and that may allow him to communicate...He may be moved back to the rehab center tomorrow from Southwest Memorial.
We talked of the hard stuff today, funeral preparations, costs, transportation, Mom getting resettled after........etc. This was hard to do, but is necessary. No one has $ to help them out and he has a life insurance policy of only $1000.. That's not going to go far! Brian is researching the costs (doing a very good job of it, too!) and checking what the Veteran's programs can do in this situation. He's prepared to go to Cortez, if needed.
Mom talked to Dad's sister (Betty) and brother (Jack) tonight to keep them informed.
Here we are at the end of another day and Dad is still with us. : ) Hug your families. Tell them of your love and show it, too. Share God's love for them with every day stuff.
Thank you for your prayers. It ain't over, yet.
love to all of you,
Colleen/Mom
thanks for the support you have been giving . . . this is a hard thing for my family. i am just scared i will be in europe when it all goes down.
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if you live in portland, check out the post below . . .
say it don't spray it 8:26 AM
3 i heard that
