Update

Thank you to everyone who has expressed their concern and support regarding Jack's mom and her illness. We feel really loved and thank each one of you...it really makes a difference!

We do have an update, and an unexpected silver lining...

Yesterday, Jack arrived at his mom's house just as the visiting hospice doctor was there for her weekly check-in. He was able to speak with her about just what is going on...something we've had to piece together for ourselves as we go, since information has been sketchy. The actual diagnosis is that the doctors don't know exactly what she has. They are sure there is a mass or tumor, and they are fairly sure it's cancer, and yes, it's grouped in the pancreas and liver. Just now, his mom seems to be holding her own, and the doc said it may be possible that she'll live to see a few more months, maybe even to the end of the year. Since her pain is currently managed by oral medication and doesnt seem to be progressing to a worse stage in the past week, that is very good news to us! The fact the doctor would be up front about the unknowns, too, was encouraging...they simply don't have all the facts. If his mom lives through the fall, they will do more tests.

So what seem imminent, as in a few weeks' timeframe, now has relaxed at least a little, buying Mima more time, hopefully, and Jack more time with her. She was installed on the couch in the late afternoon yesterday, holding court with well-wishers and thoroughly enjoying it. She seems to have a period once a day that she can sit in the living room and relax with her husband by watching some TV or taking phone calls and seeing the occasional family member who drops in to help out. It's an adjustment for Jack, who is used to seeing his mother up with the birds and steamrolling through the day with just brief periods of rest. To see her sitting is a rather strange thing for him. But she has a routine, and it's working for her...and we're very relieved. She sleeps all night and most of the day, with the meds doing their thing, but she's still as saucy as ever when she is queen of the living room :)

Thank you for all your prayers...we'd love it if you could remember her whenever you think of it. Though this blog is not intentionally a place to air private happenings, that line gets blurred since it does operate as a journal of our real life journeying to a homestead. This is our real life, and I'm not segmenting the life events into a closed-door category, though I am withholding many of the more private details.

This was a welcome development, and we are really happy we'll have more time with Jack's mom. Just wanted to share the good news!