Journal entry by Regina Schamberger —
It is has been a long time since my last post. My last couple journal entries about my mother's journey, were....well, a little less positive and optimistic. In fact, it started to get difficult to write posts that generally said, "she is the same." Today, we marked a momentous milestone and certainly causes for celebration. Today was the day my mom found out that she is "officially" cancer free!
For those of you who do not know, my mother had her first PET scan following the treatments yesterday and then had to wait 24 hours to hear the results. Although everyone tries to remain positive and optimistic in these situations, it clearly is difficult NOT to let anxiety kick in. In the end, her news was extremely positive and we all are ecstatic. We would celebrate with an abundance of food and drinks, but well...my mom isn't quite there yet....I'm thinking we might celebrate with ice cream and an 8pm bedtime instead.
These last couple months have been an uphill battle. At the beginning of the summer, she remained VERY weak and still struggled with even swallowing and speaking (which if you know my mom, is quite the challenge). She has grown stronger over the summer and is back to playing Pickleball. She continues to remind us though that she can only play about 3 games when she used to play about 10. We keep reminding her that it is all about progress. She even babysat for my kids over the summer, although she only kept one at a time (I'm not sure whether that was related to the illness or just the general overwhelmingness of all 3 of my children). Eating and drinking continue to be a significant challenge and she has been using the feeding tube all summer. She is working hard though and is dreaming of the day that she can go back to Yoga Class without the uncomfortable feeding tube weighing her down. Luckily that day will come soon and she is working on scheduling the appointment to get that out. She still needs to be encouraged to eat to continue to get stronger and continue to fight for her health. She will also continue to have follow-up appointments to ensure that she continues to be inOverall, this was a good day though....definitely a day to celebrate!
I can't say thank you enough to everyone who has supported my mother through this journey. I have been amazed by the helpfulness and positivity of my mother's family and friends. Whether it was through positive comments, food that was delivered, company during treatments, visits to the house, or even just distracting my father with a drink - the amount of gratitude that we feel towards you all cannot be adequately expressed. I truly believe that connectedness and compassion can help to fuel positive outcomes and it certainly has helped throughout this journey.
Thank you to everyone!
For those of you who do not know, my mother had her first PET scan following the treatments yesterday and then had to wait 24 hours to hear the results. Although everyone tries to remain positive and optimistic in these situations, it clearly is difficult NOT to let anxiety kick in. In the end, her news was extremely positive and we all are ecstatic. We would celebrate with an abundance of food and drinks, but well...my mom isn't quite there yet....I'm thinking we might celebrate with ice cream and an 8pm bedtime instead.
These last couple months have been an uphill battle. At the beginning of the summer, she remained VERY weak and still struggled with even swallowing and speaking (which if you know my mom, is quite the challenge). She has grown stronger over the summer and is back to playing Pickleball. She continues to remind us though that she can only play about 3 games when she used to play about 10. We keep reminding her that it is all about progress. She even babysat for my kids over the summer, although she only kept one at a time (I'm not sure whether that was related to the illness or just the general overwhelmingness of all 3 of my children). Eating and drinking continue to be a significant challenge and she has been using the feeding tube all summer. She is working hard though and is dreaming of the day that she can go back to Yoga Class without the uncomfortable feeding tube weighing her down. Luckily that day will come soon and she is working on scheduling the appointment to get that out. She still needs to be encouraged to eat to continue to get stronger and continue to fight for her health. She will also continue to have follow-up appointments to ensure that she continues to be inOverall, this was a good day though....definitely a day to celebrate!
I can't say thank you enough to everyone who has supported my mother through this journey. I have been amazed by the helpfulness and positivity of my mother's family and friends. Whether it was through positive comments, food that was delivered, company during treatments, visits to the house, or even just distracting my father with a drink - the amount of gratitude that we feel towards you all cannot be adequately expressed. I truly believe that connectedness and compassion can help to fuel positive outcomes and it certainly has helped throughout this journey.
Thank you to everyone!
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