Journal entry by Brian Banish —
Well, another month has passed and although nothing really has changed that much, we are inspired at her resilience. 2 more rounds of chemo have gone by, and despite how difficult it has been on Mom, she's faring well compared to other patients according to her oncologist.
With all of that being said, Jim, Daren and I have been running a 24hr assisted living care facility in home. The hardship is great, and the bulk of the stress is on Daren as I work during the day and Jim isn't in the best of health. The saving grace is the I am finally allowed a work from home status, and according to my boss, my productivity has been identical with in office. This means until they cease ND operations, I won't be going back in the office.
What this does is make it possibly for Mom to remain in the home. Because I'm not commuting, I can make meals and prep food more easily, as well as, it allows my brothers the flexibility to use my car during the day without coordinating with my work schedule.
With regards to symptoms, Mom still has chemo brain- her intermittent memory lapses occur. She is easily distracted, and becomes irritable when we turn off John Wayne while handling her home health duties. Without the quiet time, she has difficulty focusing her attention and it ends i taking 3x as long to do rudimentary tasks. Sorry Mr. The Duke.
Overall her spirits are reasonable all things considered. With the exception of doctor appointments, she's not truly able to leave the house, and when doing so, it comes at the expense of greatly disproportionate exhaustion. For healthy people, running to the store is an inconvenience, but for her, it's a serious production.
Her trajectory for chemo is to prevent tumor growth and limit pain. Oddly enough, the most significant pain occurs only due to chemo! Once the effects of chemo subside, so does her greatest pain. This is due to the side effect of nerve damage and nerve growth, which is interrupted by the anti-mitosis effects of the drugs.
We have a CT and/or PET scan Tuesday--I can't remember which, followed by a conference with her oncologist Wednesday. Last CT her tumor shrunk 25% since October. However, because of severe weight loss, she was told she couldn't continue chemo if she didn't at least maintain muscle mass. Arguably she lost 8 or so lbs just from decreased infection, but the other 31lbs was likely all chemo and decreased hunger impulse
What to expect? We have no expectations. One week to the next is all we plan. Our family's sacrifice to allow her to remain at home has come with extreme hardship and exhaustion for everyone involved. Her wish to spend her last days, weeks or months at home with her family are all we can do for her.
As far as well wishes, we can't thank everyone enough for remembering her. Hearing over the phone isn't the greatest, but personal visits are greatly energizing for her.
With all of that being said, Jim, Daren and I have been running a 24hr assisted living care facility in home. The hardship is great, and the bulk of the stress is on Daren as I work during the day and Jim isn't in the best of health. The saving grace is the I am finally allowed a work from home status, and according to my boss, my productivity has been identical with in office. This means until they cease ND operations, I won't be going back in the office.
What this does is make it possibly for Mom to remain in the home. Because I'm not commuting, I can make meals and prep food more easily, as well as, it allows my brothers the flexibility to use my car during the day without coordinating with my work schedule.
With regards to symptoms, Mom still has chemo brain- her intermittent memory lapses occur. She is easily distracted, and becomes irritable when we turn off John Wayne while handling her home health duties. Without the quiet time, she has difficulty focusing her attention and it ends i taking 3x as long to do rudimentary tasks. Sorry Mr. The Duke.
Overall her spirits are reasonable all things considered. With the exception of doctor appointments, she's not truly able to leave the house, and when doing so, it comes at the expense of greatly disproportionate exhaustion. For healthy people, running to the store is an inconvenience, but for her, it's a serious production.
Her trajectory for chemo is to prevent tumor growth and limit pain. Oddly enough, the most significant pain occurs only due to chemo! Once the effects of chemo subside, so does her greatest pain. This is due to the side effect of nerve damage and nerve growth, which is interrupted by the anti-mitosis effects of the drugs.
We have a CT and/or PET scan Tuesday--I can't remember which, followed by a conference with her oncologist Wednesday. Last CT her tumor shrunk 25% since October. However, because of severe weight loss, she was told she couldn't continue chemo if she didn't at least maintain muscle mass. Arguably she lost 8 or so lbs just from decreased infection, but the other 31lbs was likely all chemo and decreased hunger impulse
What to expect? We have no expectations. One week to the next is all we plan. Our family's sacrifice to allow her to remain at home has come with extreme hardship and exhaustion for everyone involved. Her wish to spend her last days, weeks or months at home with her family are all we can do for her.
As far as well wishes, we can't thank everyone enough for remembering her. Hearing over the phone isn't the greatest, but personal visits are greatly energizing for her.
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