~A Rita Report~

Well, Finn and I made a visit home this past weekend and I am in many ways recovering from the visit. As always, it was a shock to see my mother after 3 weeks. She is continuing to lose weight and has officially hit the 50lb. mark. This visit brought the reality of chemotherapy and it's side effects into my life. Until this past visit I would only hear of the difficulty in eating and drinking, the digestive problems that arise if she does get something down, the weakness, the fatigue, and of course...the ever apparent loss of what little hair she had left. I think the most difficult thing to see is the desire, the want, the longing for the energy to get up and play with Finn. While I know he provides a relief and does bring her joy, it proves to be difficult to watch her long to assist me in feeding him, changing him, and giving him a bath...

Now, keeping with our Motto: Positive Thoughts = Positive Results, it is important to know that while I feel this emotional about our visit...I know the chemo is working. Like I reported last week, Rita's Doctor said he can barely feel the lump now. Patience is the one virtue I've been missing most of my life so this entire process is really testing me. What can I say? I just want to see my mom doing the Cha-Cha again....sooner than later.