Gosh, Jasdip, she's been through so much. At least now you have a diagnosis, albeit an unhappy one. Your Mom sounds like one heck of a great woman. I hope she will be home and close by very shortly.

JASDIP...I'm so sorry about the diagnoses, but at least it's slow growing! I'm happy to hear she is so close to coming home! I betting she improves a lot one she does get home! My Prayers continue for her..and all of you!

How I so admire Jasdip and her incredible Mother. What strong women!! For what you two and your family have endured, to still have fiest and humor, amazes me. I truly hope when your Mom is closer to home, she regains her strength to be able to go home. I'm sorry to hear the diagnoses of cancer, but thankful it is a slow growing one. Thanks for the update, Kiddo.

I'm sorry the diagnosis wasn't good, but thankfully it is slow-growing. I will continue to remember her in my prayers, and hope she can go home very soon. Hugs!

"Minute and slow growing" sounds encouraging, actually. I remember reading up prostate cancer years ago and learning that some cases are often better left untreated. For that reason, early diagnosis was a controversial issue.

In any case, I hope your mom gains some strength quickly and comes home soon.

Talk about good news/bad news! Good news is she will be closer to home and, hopefully, home next weekend since she wanted to be home for Father's Day. Hope that wish comes true for her. Cancer is never an easy word to hear. It's even hard to type. I hope when she gets home her appetite will come back. Cook her some of your great food and she'll be out of that bed in no time! ((Love to your mom)).

Sounds a little bit like what my own 87 year old Mother went through in her final weeks. She was living in her own home, she was sick over Thanksgiving. I called her regarding Christmas, and she seemed very cross. "I hate Christmas. All the planning. All the Cleaning. All the Cooking." On Christmas Eve morning she collapsed on the floor of her kitchen and my brother called an ambulance. She hadn't eaten in several days, even tho food was available. She was dehydrated and had pneumonia. They kept her in the hospital only a couple days, transferred her to a Nursing Center for a couple weeks, but she went downhill. Released to her home with hospice care on a Thursday, shhe passed the following Saturday morning. She didn't have cancer. It's like she just didn't want to go on living. She had emphysema/COPD for years and had been on home oxygen for about 5 years. Jasdip, enjoy whjatever time you have left.

Aw, Jasdip; I'm sorry for the diagnosis, but am ever-so impressed by your mom. How wonderful that she's touched the attendants, as well. Love the stories about the rose and the sunset.

I am so sorry to hear of what they found Sherry. Big hugs and prayers still going out to you both.

Sue

I'm sorry about the diagnosis, but your Mom amazes me. She's already beat some incredible odds so it won't surprise me if she beats this too!

I know you are looking forward to getting her home and closer to you. I so wish her the best. Take care, and thanks for the update.

I'm sorry to hear this. But it sounds like she IS gaining strength back and in a few months, maybe she WILL be strong enough for the radiation treatment. all the best

I echo what Dotmom said! At your mom's age, slow-growing can mean a lonnnnggg time, so I hope she is able to work on the eating/drinking issue. Hmm, the idea of going back to the first hospital is a little scary--any other alternative? I'm so glad her doctor seems to care a great deal about your mom and is looking out for her. You are an example to us all, Sherry!

We and she, are happy that she's coming home to our local hospital here. The care she received here was good, they just didn't know what to do, really.

I didn't like her surgeon and his very much lack of patient follow-up once the procedure was done, but she won't have him again.

The complaint we have with her care here, was that they sent her to the rehabilitation hospital, when she was in no shape whatsoever to be there. That set her back, health-wise. She developed complications....blood clots and other things that sent her back to emergency and then on to the hospital she's in now.

We have no way of knowing how long she'll be in the hospital.......more months I'm sure. So she's planning the Father's Day menu for us, from her bed, making sure I don't forget anything, etc etc. Her sense of humour and strong will are very much alive and intact.

Thanks again, for your healing prayers and thoughts and positive comments, friends.

Must she go to a hospital at all? Would home nursing care be an option -- or a nursing home?

If a mentally competent atient can't or won't eat...how long do you persist in hydrating and feeding via a tube? What does SHE want?

Bless her heart. She's strong willed, and a fighter. Keep encouraging her. Her condition has taken her appetite, she wants to eat, just can't. With love and prayers she will be able to eat soon. It's tough I know, just keep encouraging her, one little nibble at a time. Prayers for her and your family.

I just remembered something. When my aunt, (in her early 80's,) was in a rehab place to recuperate from a broken femur, she seemed unable to eat. She was never a big eater in the first place but they insisted on giving her a big plate with a full meal on it every time, which made her feel nauseated. Her dd kept asking the staff to put only a very small amount on the plate to make it more appetizing to her mother, and they would agree to do so. But they never did do that! It was very frustrating to my cousin. My aunt did much better with food when she got home because my cousin would give her small amounts on a plate, which she felt was more easily tackled. It's worth a thought, maybe.

Excellent idea Sjern!!!
It would be so good for her morale to be able to eat everything on her plate, if it were only a few tablespoons instead of a whole plate full of stuff she has no physical way of eating!!

Mom has said all along, back when she was in our local hospital that she'd never eat all the food they put on her plate, even if she were home and healthy. She seldom eats all the food on her plate, and never when eating out a restaurant.

Yesterday she had an omelette, large pieces of homefried potatoes and frozen veggies, juice and a pudding cup. The amount of hot food on her plate was overwhelming. I could just see the despair on her face.

I called the nurse and spoke to her. Alas, the food is all prepared in another city and trucked in, so the portions are all the same.

Oh my. So much to deal with. She sounds like an absolute doll, and everyone that meets her is better off for it.

I hope she remains in awesome spirits and can be comfortable and pain free. And I pray for strength for you and your family to deal with this health issue.

Hmm, I guess the nurse (or whomever serves the food,) isn't allowed to re-plate the meal with only a small portion, or maybe you can just ask? Shoot, it shouldn't be this hard! Too much protocol to follow, I guess. I hope your mom can manage to eat and drink a little bit better, very soon.

Is there a way you could get another plate, or even bring one and cut the portion down yourself or one of the nurses? I understand how they couldn't do it in the prep area there but it does seem like a good idea if she's feeling frustrated over the amount. It could be she hates to waste food. I imagine the hospital staff probably can't touch the food themselves and you probably wouldn't want them touching it anyway.

Lack of appetite isn't unusual. She's not working up an appetite! I'm just always concerned over dehydration in people and animals both. I don't think enough people understand the seriousness of dehydration and if you've never been dehydrated, you don't understand how sick you really feel, plus the actual damage to the body. Maybe some of the little "stick" additives they have for water could help give her something she might like. Does she like lemonade, fruit punch or something? Maybe a different flavor could get her drinking more.

I like to hear she's feisty and even planning menus! That's good. Keeps her mind active and distracted from other issues. Attitude can mean a lot for recovery and treatment.

And that was really nice of the guy to help her see the sunset that day. I know that being able to see outside meant a lot to me when I was in the hospital way back when. There's not a lot more peaceful scenes than a nice sunrise or sunset. Good time for thought and reflection.

Best of luck and best wishes to you, your mom, family and friends Jasdip. Been wondering how things are going.

I just got off the phone with the nurse. She put an order to have her food minced. She said it doesn't look gross, it's just in little pieces so she can eat it easier.

I was thrilled! They're also giving her Ensure protein drinks....this is to hold off putting the feeding line back in. Thank God.

She said that Mom is "delightful" and she's hoping to take her outside in the little courtyard today. THAT will be the first time she's had fresh air since November! She will love that....I hope it gets sunny as predicted....she's been feeling the cold.

Anyway, they sure seem to like her, and want to do as much for her as possible.

OH they brought in a little tv yesterday so she could watch the Hockey game last nite!!! LOL She watched the whole thing.

I've been hospitalized twice since 2000. Once in 2001 when I had a stroke, the second time was 2007 when I started on kidney dialysis. Both times I felt no appetite, all I wanted was go home". They gave me a menu in which I had a choice of foods each day and a choice of portion sizes-small, medium,large. And it was based on doctors orders-low salt,low phosphorous and low potassium for my kidneys. Also, if the food didn't appeal to me when it was delivered, I could ask for a cold cut sandwich. They had a kitchen in the basement and each meal was individually prepared for the patient. I can truthfully say I "like" hospital food. When my Mom was in the hospital December-January, they brought her huge amounts of food, especially on Christmas Day. They also gave her three cans of Ensure a day to drink. She'd take a sip of each, then set it on her window sill and said "I'll finish it later". Which she never did. My sisters brought candy and sweets from home but she told them to stop. She was very cantankerous. She mentioned she was cold in the hospital, so one of my sisters bought her a sweater. When she gave it to Mom, Mom told her "Take it home.Somebody will steal it if you leave it here." Like I said, she passed in January. Enjoy the time you have left. "Slow growing" may mean years. I had a friend with a slow-growing benign brain tumor. The tumor took 8 years to kill her, even though it was "benign". That just refers to the type of cells.

Prayers on their way for you and yours.
Let God do the rest!
Hugs
Dolly