My sister and I arrived at the Endoscopic office, in the Salem Hospital, to find our father, David, huddled in a small room marked "Consultation Room." The look on his face was of pure relief (and somewhat humours to Wendy and I) when he saw us walk through the door. My dad, who was my moms chauffeur to her 6:45am check in time, did not think he would be the first one escorted into hear the results of the ultrasound. To hear him tell it, he about had an anxiety attach, sitting there, thinking he was going to be all alone when receiving what could be a vital piece of my moms cancer puzzle. But he was a trooper and didn't correct the nurse when she called him my moms "husband" and sat quietly, although in much turmoil, waiting, for what he calls felt like FOREVER for Wendy and I to show up. In our defense, we were told 9:30, but luckily we arrived a little bit early. Because only moments after we found my dad about to pass out, the doctor came in and shared the results with us.
Basically, this is what we learned.
The tumor has just started to intrude into her stomach wall. Because of this, she was staged at a what he called T-3 or Stage 3 (the stages being 1-4). The encouraging news is that the intrusion into the stomach wall is small at this point. He was glad to report that none of the other organs are infected (which we already knew), but did say one lymphnode looked abnormal BUT NOT cancerous. Although, he said mom has a lot of work ahead of her with surgery and chemo. I got the impression be believes it is beatable.
The next day my moms Oncologist, Dr. O'Brien, called her and set up an appointment to meet with the surgeon for next Wednesday. We see Dr. O'Brien tomorrow (Friday) to talk more about my moms ultrasound results and hopefully get a few more questions answered.
I have this funny feeling, that our life, at least for the next year or so, is going to be filled with questions.
Please keep my mom in your prayers. Especially asking that God guide her surgeon in making correct decisions about her surgery and care.
