the diagnosis

what i wrote to Uncle B after Nana's appt:

Nana has Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Dr F suggested chemo, a light dose that wouldn't kill the cancer but it would slow it's progress. The light dose shouldn't cause hair loss & the nausea/vomiting should be much less than regular chemo. Without the chemo the anticipated timeline would be 3 to 6 months, with the chemo treatment it could be from 6 months to a year. He also said she could stop the chemo at anytime if she decided it was too hard. We asked Nana & she said she would like to go through with the therapy. I'm sorry but I forgot to ask how many treatments he suggested.

There is an oncologist in EC, that Nana could see for the chemo, or she can begin therapy with Dr. F.

Dr F said Nana will need to have 24 hour care. The past few weeks she's spent in the hospital her legs have weakened & she can barely stand much less walk. The social worker at Dr F's office is helping us with looking into options (home health, hospice or facility care) down in the valley, but we really need to talk with the entire family & decide what's best for Nana. If she goes home (the home health/hospice options) she can't be alone & she will require more than a regular caregiver as her health declines. We need to decide if it be better/safer for Nana to be in a facility & if she's going to stay in a facility would it be better for her to be in the valley or near the hospital for the treatments?

The good news is Dr F said over the next couple of weeks Nana's body will adjust to the stint. She should gain some weight, get stronger & hopefully go back to doing more things for herself at least for awhile.

that's it.
this is real.