Update on Mom:

About a month after the last update from Willie-O, she was going downhill, finding she couldn't really eat, or too fatigued to cook. The doc arranged for her to go to hospital (for tests or something?) and none too soon either because suddenly, within a day she couldn't breathe. Talking to her was like trying to chat during a full-out sprint. The reason: about 7/8 gal. of fluid in her lungs drained over 2-3 days.

The fluid was drained, but the cancer had roared back by the end of June. She hasn't been back home yet. She's in a convalescent room in a retirment residence in suburban Ottawa, wasting away and hoping for a miracle. Fortunately she has very little pain, treatable with plain tylenol, so she isn't all dopey from narcotics, just from anti-nauseants, which have rarely made her drowsy .

People still visit, but not as many as she becomes less able to remain awake for more than 5 to 20 minutes. She welcomes the company, though. And flowers, bi-coloured roses especially make her smile.

All in all, what I've witnessed is entirely consistent with the prognosis told to me last fall by her oncologist. We're all hoping that the universe will catch this error and fix it before it's too late, but things have been extremely discouraging in recent weeks.

Even when she's too tired to keep her eyes open, she loves to be sung to. Being read to is also good, as she is too weak to hold a book or crossword puzzle magazine for long enough to use.

In spite of all this, she has her guitar with her and her lyrics binder, and she assumes that with a bit of time, she'll be back playing and singing.

Thanks, Bill, for keeping the info up to date when I was diverted by my own health. Sorry I'm a bit behind on my visits to your MP3 site. When I can...

CH.