After taking a look at Mom's blood work results and visually checking Mom's left breast, the doc said everything looks very good. That wasn't enough for me, of course.
Since Mom started taking her miracle medicine Arimidex, her cancer shrunk about 50% within the first two weeks. I was so happy the medication worked so well for her and so was the doctor when we saw him in a follow up appointment a few months later. He did say, though, that the cancer was in her lymph and those words rang in my head ever since they came out of his mouth and fell on my ears - and my heart.
Having had some nurse's training I am aware that usually when cancer enters the lymph nodes, the patient doesn't have much hope for recovery because it is then spread throughout the patient's body and can attack vital organs.
I've been worried and stressed because I don't want my mother to die suffering but deep down in my heart I just knew she wouldn't.
My mother was the best any kid could ask for. She and Dad adopted all four of us kids (as babies from different families) and both raised us as you would expect perfect parents to raise their very own children. They loved us and let us know that. A fireman for many years, Dad died from injuries sustained while working. Mom was left with four young children to raise by herself. What a handful we were (are!). She's an angel on earth, never did anything bad to anyone, and I think she comes close to Mother Teresa in the Never Told A Lie competition. I know in my heart God would not let this woman suffer anymore than she has already and that Mom would probably die in her sleep, peacefully, when God is ready to take her Home finally and be with my Dad (who was only forty five when he died.).
Still though, the words stuck in my head and I wondered like crazy what was happening inside her body, where I couldn't see the bad cells going away like I could see on the outside of her body.
I questioned this doctor about the cancer inside her lymphatic system and if the blood tests indicated anything about that.
I almost cried when she said it appears all of the organs are functioning perfectly and there's no indication of cancer affecting them so she's going along with my hope that the cancer in her lymph is also being killed off by the way Arimidex works for her.
The second huge blessing in this is that Mom has no side effects from the cancer medication. The prescribing doctor said she would probably start having major pain in her joints and to make sure she's getting calcium and vitamin D to supplement her diet. I was already giving her those supplements so I think that helped Mom because she has no pain whatsoever. Once in a while she gets a back ache that one lonely asprin knocks right out of her. Knocks her out too! ha. She falls right asleep when she takes one asprin! ha.
So we have a clean bill of health in the cancer department. (Thank you Lord for taking such good care of my Mom. Help me do my very best and more than my best for Mom now that she needs me so much. Keep me patient and help me remember how well she took such good care of me all my life. Help me show her how much I love her and appreciate her in all that I do. And please, Lord, since you are such a giving God, could you send a burglar to our house and let him break in and clean it for me? I'd really appreciate it. During the night when I'm sleeping would probably be the best time for us. If he came during the day and saw the commotion here it would scare him off before he gets to the pile of dishes in the sink . Thank you Lord. Amen.)
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