MudCatters,

I really need your help. My brother & I went home yesterday (Sunday) to see our Mom. It was a belated birthday lunch for my brother. We both noted that she looked really great, and that the house didn't smell of smoke as it usually did. She said that she had decided to cut back. On the way to the restaurant, we were asking her what had promted this change, and she told us that she had wanted to wait until after lunch to tell us, but that she had been to the doctor because of a chronic cough, and that x-rays had revealed two plumb-sized patches on her right lung.

Subsequent tests have shown these to be malignant cancerous growths. They have not determined if they have metastisized yet, or what effect they have had on her lymph nodes. Those tests will be done today. They will also determine the health of her left lung, and what quality of life she would have if they removed the right one. The growths are located in such a way as to be inoperable. In other words, they cannot just remove the growths. They would have to remove the whole lung. My Mom does not want to have the surgery. She has a real strong feeling that the chemo & radiation will do the job.

My Mom has been so much more than just a mother to me. She has seen me thru the darkest times of my life, as well as the brightest. I want to be strong for her, but to be honest, I feel completely undone by this news. I am so scared. I don't know what I would do without her.

I am also worried for my brother because he & she have had a somewhat rocky relationship in the past, although they have mended many bridges here of late.

We lost our father to lung cancer some years ago. While I was not as close to hime as I might have wished (my parents were divorced), it was still painful. My Mom is all I have left. I would really appreciate any prayers you had to offer.

Thank you,

BeauD.