The Beginning

Hello to all who have come to this site for updates. I'd like to start off by giving a history. We all know Mom was born in the "late" 30's and married our dad, Frank, in 1950. She married early and raised 5 kids, of which I happen to be the youngest. She has 4 grandsons, 5 granddaughters. She also has 4 great-grandsons. In 2007, Mom was hospitalized 2 times (May and September) for pneumonia. She was hospitalized again in April for pneumonia. This was where they performed extensive tests and determined she most likely had lung cancer (with lymph node involvement). Subsequent testing (bronchoscopy) confirmed the preliminary diagnosis of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Left Upper Lung. Small cell carcinoma (SCC) is categorized differently from the other cancers in that it is not "Staged". It is either aggressive or non-aggressive. Because there is lymph node involvement, hers is considered aggressive. To give a little perspective, if her cancer would be staged, she would be at Stage 3b (stage 4 being the worst). She saw her oncologist, Dr. Billings, on Tuesday May 6. According to Mom, he said her cancer is treatable. She goes Monday, May 12, to have her "port" inserted so they can deliver her chemotherapy through that, rather than having to go through a vein each time. That could be tough on the veins. Then she will be going two other times, I am not quite sure of the dates. The reason I created this blog is so each and every one of you can visit to check Mom's status. If you would like to make comments, you are very welcome to do so (encouraged even). Well, I will sign off for now, and keep updating as they become available. Love to all - to the moon and back! Jeaux