First to all to everyone who was so supportive through this crisis with my mom, last week or so ago, THANK YOU.

It feels like I'm finally coming up for air. This last week I've been pretty exhausted and just trying to catch up on my sleep; something that seems to be a lifelong ambition.

Here is the amazing turn-around. If you recall mama was admitted to the hospital after spiking a fever, throwing up and complaining of abdominal pain. The Petscan they did revealed a large mass on her liver that the doctor interpreted as advance cancer. She  wouldn't know until she went in just how bad it was. The immediate concern was the blocked colon and the surgeon said she'd have to perform a colostomy on mama. Since she had had a previous one, the doctor said that this one would most likely be permanent.

When the doctor said that the option was either Chemotherapy or non-treatment , my brother, sister and I agreed that at 87 years old and with Alzheimer's Disease this would be simply inhumane to subject my mother to what would amount to torture.

Through all of this my brother made no offer to dip into Moms funds to fly me down there. I won't go into detail, but our dad left mama comfortably off. He worked until he was 82 years old and when he died at the age of 93, the social security worker who came to go through the paperwork with my mother told her that it was the largest social security annuity that he had ever seen. That, with some sensible CDs and low risk savings investments left mamma pretty much set for the rest of her life. As my brother likes to remind me " Mamas getting the best care her money can buy". ………..nice.

Even before this my brother constantly reminded me that "mama won't be around for much longer…You had better come see her while she still knows you." Even though he knows about my financial situation he won't make the move to take a penny of mammas money to fly me down. It's just as well, because the thought of going down there usually makes me literally sick.

THE BIG SURPRISE came the morning after surgery…According to my brother, mammas surgeon was shaking her head and using the term "miracle". Something you don't hear a doctor utter much. She said that when she opened my mother up, there was absolutely NO trace of cancer, either on her liver or any other organs.

I for one have never have had total faith in Western Medicine and consider machines such as Catscans and Petscans to be highly suspect and at the very least only as accurate as the physician reading them…

In any case there was not only no cancer, the doctor was able to remove the blocked section of colon and reattach the ends without resorting to a colostomy!  It was good news to say the least.  The doctor says that as soon as mamma is stronger that she can go home.  Home of course meaning back to Shady Pines or Country Manor….At least I know she will be around friends and familiar surroundings again and I'm thankful for that !

I do have mixed feelings about the outcome though…I was so ready for this to be the final curtain for Mama even if my brother and sister are still in denial…I found myself praying that god would go ahead and take her while she was in surgery…She would just go to sleep and never wake up.  Should I feel guilty about these feelings?  Of course, life is rarely this tidy…I think that if there is a master plan then maybe there is a reason that it wasn't mamas time to go. Maybe it was to give my siblings a little more time to make peace with her….or maybe god decided to give my dad a break and a few more years of guy time… LOL

In any case, thanks again to ALL my Tribe friends who were so supportive through this latest bump in the road!  Thanks to RyeGuy for calling me several times and making me LMAO….You are one SICK PUPPY and I love you for it!….SPECIAL thanks to CircledMoon who sent me an email that simply read: " how much does an airline ticket to Tampa cost?  Get back to me."

With Lots of Love and Gratitude,  Loki (aka david)