Wow. First post of a new blog. I have a lot on my mind right now, that's why I haven't updated any of my stories on FFN or on AO3.
As my readers know, my seventy-three year old mother has been diagnosed with uterine cancer just this last November. By the time of discovery, it had metastisized into her abdominal wall and her spinal column. It was actually discovered only on going to the emergency room - a fact that irritated me a bit, as she'd seen a doctor just a few days before and commented that her stomach was tight and she was eating little but still gaining weight.
They call that Ascites (ah-sigh-tees), if you're curious. It's the buildup of liquid in the abdomen. The liquid is produced by the cancer cells. She had gained two sizes in the space of a week. The prognosis was grim. Stage 3 Ascites caused by cancer is not a good thing. She was at a stage where six months is the usual life expectancy. Add in the sudden discovery of a rather large blood clot in her left leg and that she apparently has high blood pressure....
Ouch.
The good news, is that the chemo is working. At least I think it is. She's feeling better. She manifests it by being obnoxious, but that's just her starting to get back to normal. The official word over whether or not my mother is a hopeless case comes within the next seven days. They're going to run a few scans on Friday to see what's happening.
But that doesn't even begin to cover the "joy" that is patient care.
She, as I said, was diagnosed in the hospital. Her medications were prescribed there. For some things, this isn't so bad. She's on one for the clot, two for the blood pressure, and there are a few that are taken only when certain conditions are met. (Nausea, just before chemo, etc.) As she's been a bit incoherent at times, I'm the one maintaining her meds and appointment schedule.
The schedule itself is quite a headache. Every doctor wants to see her all the time. I have to explain to them what prior commitments she has and watch whichever doctor is last in line this week scramble to find a time slot. She's had three appointments this week, there are three next week, plus the scan.... It's fun. In the way that is not, to use a Buffy-tv-inspired expression.
Not to mention that the car needs repairs before it's roadworthy. She can't ride the bus, because chemo compromises the immune system. And, she can't walk to the bus stop anyway thanks to the clot. So, every appointment involves a grand total of almost $50 in cab rides. Since we managed to make some appointments same-day, this week and the next two will be around three hundred dollars in cabs.
Then we have the medications. I had to call all three doctors to finally figure out which one would renew one that we're running out of. All three. One didn't call me back for two days, and I finally had to call and be transferred through four people before they finally said it wasn't them. When I started making the calls, we had two weeks of that medication left. We are now down to four days and I only got a straight answer yesterday.
My husband is going to pick up the medication today.
Last, but most stressing, is telling her that she can't do things. She can't clean, which she's obsessive about. She can't go outside and walk to a destination, which she used to enjoy. Basically, all she's allowed to do is visit the restroom and zap food in the microwave. The end result of the situation is that I have to beg, plead, and cry to keep her from doing something that might harm herself.
Yeah. I would go to a caregiver's support group so that I had someone to commiserate with about this, but I don't have the time. I have too much to do and I can't leave her alone for a second. I come home to find that she's done the laundry or some other activity that involves the bending and stretching she shouldn't be doing.
Is it really that hard to relax and be waited upon all day? Apparently.
Still, I continue on and will continue on. And when she's (hopefully) in remission and the clot is taken care of, I will spend several hours just relaxing and with my mind not constantly working out the problems that are caused by this..... Oh. Wait. No. I'll be working on the medical bills.
As my readers know, my seventy-three year old mother has been diagnosed with uterine cancer just this last November. By the time of discovery, it had metastisized into her abdominal wall and her spinal column. It was actually discovered only on going to the emergency room - a fact that irritated me a bit, as she'd seen a doctor just a few days before and commented that her stomach was tight and she was eating little but still gaining weight.
They call that Ascites (ah-sigh-tees), if you're curious. It's the buildup of liquid in the abdomen. The liquid is produced by the cancer cells. She had gained two sizes in the space of a week. The prognosis was grim. Stage 3 Ascites caused by cancer is not a good thing. She was at a stage where six months is the usual life expectancy. Add in the sudden discovery of a rather large blood clot in her left leg and that she apparently has high blood pressure....
Ouch.
The good news, is that the chemo is working. At least I think it is. She's feeling better. She manifests it by being obnoxious, but that's just her starting to get back to normal. The official word over whether or not my mother is a hopeless case comes within the next seven days. They're going to run a few scans on Friday to see what's happening.
But that doesn't even begin to cover the "joy" that is patient care.
She, as I said, was diagnosed in the hospital. Her medications were prescribed there. For some things, this isn't so bad. She's on one for the clot, two for the blood pressure, and there are a few that are taken only when certain conditions are met. (Nausea, just before chemo, etc.) As she's been a bit incoherent at times, I'm the one maintaining her meds and appointment schedule.
The schedule itself is quite a headache. Every doctor wants to see her all the time. I have to explain to them what prior commitments she has and watch whichever doctor is last in line this week scramble to find a time slot. She's had three appointments this week, there are three next week, plus the scan.... It's fun. In the way that is not, to use a Buffy-tv-inspired expression.
Not to mention that the car needs repairs before it's roadworthy. She can't ride the bus, because chemo compromises the immune system. And, she can't walk to the bus stop anyway thanks to the clot. So, every appointment involves a grand total of almost $50 in cab rides. Since we managed to make some appointments same-day, this week and the next two will be around three hundred dollars in cabs.
Then we have the medications. I had to call all three doctors to finally figure out which one would renew one that we're running out of. All three. One didn't call me back for two days, and I finally had to call and be transferred through four people before they finally said it wasn't them. When I started making the calls, we had two weeks of that medication left. We are now down to four days and I only got a straight answer yesterday.
My husband is going to pick up the medication today.
Last, but most stressing, is telling her that she can't do things. She can't clean, which she's obsessive about. She can't go outside and walk to a destination, which she used to enjoy. Basically, all she's allowed to do is visit the restroom and zap food in the microwave. The end result of the situation is that I have to beg, plead, and cry to keep her from doing something that might harm herself.
Yeah. I would go to a caregiver's support group so that I had someone to commiserate with about this, but I don't have the time. I have too much to do and I can't leave her alone for a second. I come home to find that she's done the laundry or some other activity that involves the bending and stretching she shouldn't be doing.
Is it really that hard to relax and be waited upon all day? Apparently.
Still, I continue on and will continue on. And when she's (hopefully) in remission and the clot is taken care of, I will spend several hours just relaxing and with my mind not constantly working out the problems that are caused by this..... Oh. Wait. No. I'll be working on the medical bills.
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