What a year it has been this far

Well, 2010 has started out to be a trying year thus far. My mom fell on December 31st, and shattered all six of her front teeth. Then, as we were just closing Escrow on her new condo, she started having pain in her left shoulder, this around January 23rd. By the 25th, she was in excruciating pain. Mark and I took her to the ER, and after they gave her a shot, they examined the site and found a mass on her collarbone. The CT scan showed some irregular cells which could indicate cancer. Well, it's March 20th and my mother starts treatment this week for a squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary. Which simply means that the very large tumor is not where the cancer started. They have poked and prodded her, run every scan known in medicine, and cannot find where it's coming from. So, basically they narrow it down to the best probability. They now feel like there's a 70% chance it came from a skin cancer. Her treatment will consist of a once of week intravenous medication called Erbitux, this is the drug that Martha Stewart went to jail for insider trading. She also has to have, once a day for six weeks, radiation therapy to the tumor, and surrounding area. My mother is less than thrilled with this whole process and because she doesn't feel so hot right now, she's kind of dreading it all. I just keep reminding her that this treatment is so she will be cured and even though it may be six weeks of hell, she'll feel better.

So, this is a very condensed version of what's been going on. My whole family has been on an emotional roller coaster, not knowing how bad her cancer is and not knowing from one day to the next if it could be cured, or if......

The one thing that has been great is we have definitely come together. We worked so hard to get her condo done for her and it took us all about a month and it turned out so cute. She loves it and we gather there every Wednesday to have dinner.

Needless to say, I haven't been working that much and my bosses have been completely understanding. I've been going in on weekends to catch up, and having one of the girls in my office work as my assistant so I don't get to far behind. Unfortunately, we had lots of changes going on at work, so It's been hard to not get stressed out about not being there. These next six weeks will be very challenging because I know if my sweet mommy is not feeling well or feeling weak, she's going to want me there. My brothers and children can help out but they can't help her shower or other things.... I'm happy to be there for her because she'd do it for me in a heartbeat.

Anyway, i'm going to update this regularly as sort of my diary. I've started my workout routine again, which I need so much and will start spin again next week. Thank God, I have a supportive husband, he has been so wonderful through all of this and really spearheaded the whole Condo project from finding it, to getting the remodel organized. I'm a lucky girl...