Sunday, July 10, 2005
Yesterday was a ridiculously stressful day. First thing in the morning I saw this email that my brother had sent Friday evening:
Well mom ended up having lung cancer in one of her lungs, So the doctor had to remove a sizeable portion of one of the lungs. The total volume of lung removed was about 20% of the total lung system. So, the doctor says she shouldn't notice much after she heals. She is doing pretty well and is expected to return home on Sunday.
Of course many thoughts were going through my mind. My mom has never smoked, although my father has for many years, so it seems unfair that she would be the one to get it. From the email it sounded like she was doing okay and her chances of recovery were good, so I didn't have to worry too much about that. So the subject that my mind ended up dwelling on the most was:
What the fuck?! Why am I learning about this after the fact in a fucking email?!
Now I know we're not a close family by any standards, but you'd think something as serious as cancer would warrant a phone call. So I called my brother and left a voicemail. Then I had to wait around all day for a call back, desperately wanting more information. From 8 am to 4 pm I felt like absolute crap, but finally I got ahold of him. According to him (and I have no reason to suspect he's making it up), my mom told him she called me to tell me that she was going in for surgery. This makes more sense- she's not known for her reliability. Perhaps she told my brother that she was going to call me, but then got sidetracked. He seemed certain that she had already called me, but I know that the last time I talked to her was when she told me that my scuba classes were a bad idea, about a month ago.
Anyway, the surgery was last TUESDAY. I found out about it on SATURDAY. I suppose a benefit of the whole situation is that I wasn't under any stress wondering how the operation was going to turn out, but if it hadn't gone well I would be doubly upset. Well, she is getting out of the hospital today and I told my brother to have her call me when she's able to talk. I still want more info, but at least I'm not on pins and needles anymore.
Well mom ended up having lung cancer in one of her lungs, So the doctor had to remove a sizeable portion of one of the lungs. The total volume of lung removed was about 20% of the total lung system. So, the doctor says she shouldn't notice much after she heals. She is doing pretty well and is expected to return home on Sunday.
Of course many thoughts were going through my mind. My mom has never smoked, although my father has for many years, so it seems unfair that she would be the one to get it. From the email it sounded like she was doing okay and her chances of recovery were good, so I didn't have to worry too much about that. So the subject that my mind ended up dwelling on the most was:
What the fuck?! Why am I learning about this after the fact in a fucking email?!
Now I know we're not a close family by any standards, but you'd think something as serious as cancer would warrant a phone call. So I called my brother and left a voicemail. Then I had to wait around all day for a call back, desperately wanting more information. From 8 am to 4 pm I felt like absolute crap, but finally I got ahold of him. According to him (and I have no reason to suspect he's making it up), my mom told him she called me to tell me that she was going in for surgery. This makes more sense- she's not known for her reliability. Perhaps she told my brother that she was going to call me, but then got sidetracked. He seemed certain that she had already called me, but I know that the last time I talked to her was when she told me that my scuba classes were a bad idea, about a month ago.
Anyway, the surgery was last TUESDAY. I found out about it on SATURDAY. I suppose a benefit of the whole situation is that I wasn't under any stress wondering how the operation was going to turn out, but if it hadn't gone well I would be doubly upset. Well, she is getting out of the hospital today and I told my brother to have her call me when she's able to talk. I still want more info, but at least I'm not on pins and needles anymore.
