Mama

FINALLY, some good news!

But first…the bad. As you know, my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer in late May, and in mid-June, had a tumor removed from the left side of her brain. She has rebounded beautifully, and we truly could not ask for more from that surgery. Following her surgery, a PET scan to detect other cancerous areas was ordered by both her surgeon and her oncologist. Then, the badder news. That paragon of virtue and caring, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, denied my mother’s PET scan, saying it wasn’t medically necessary. Wasn’t medically necessary? Are you serious? WHERE IS DEREK SHEPHERD WHEN YOU NEED HIM???

Fortunately, there are angels among us. My mom’s oncologist made a couple of phone calls, and Rex Hospital paid for her PET scan. Let there never be questions why I will continue to always choose Rex Hospital for my healthcare needs. The PET scan was on Monday, July 26. We got the results on Thursday, July 29. And it wasn’t pretty.

My mom’s base cancer, the root cause of everything else, is lung cancer, from a small mass in the upper lobe of her right lung. Stage 4 lung cancer. There is no survival rate. No matter what measures are taken, she will eventually die from it. Not only that, but it has also spread to her lymph nodes (just above the right breast), the right side of her throat, possibly her liver, and of course, her brain. However, they needed to do more studies on her liver to determine if it was actually cancer. So, an additional MRI was ordered.

Now, for the good news! The spot on her liver ISN’T CANCER! FINALLY! Something good in all of this! There is some concern over a new spot on her brain, but they’re not sure what that is just yet.

For today…I’ll savor that news.