I'm sorry for the lengthy delay in posting an update on Mom.

I was over at their house yesterday, doing a grocery run, and Mom seemed to be doing pretty well. She had physical therapy in the morning and was happy that she was able to do all that was asked of her by the physical therapist. She looked good, seemed stronger than she has in the past, and we had a good bit of conversation. She asked about the kids and was able to talk back and forth with me about them, and also about some other things.

This is pretty typical for the days leading up to a chemotherapy treatment. She will have her next one on Monday, May 3rd. These have been going well and she is tolerating the Taxotere just as well as she tolerated the cisplatin and Alimta.

So, things aren't really changing much, which in her circumstances is probably a good thing.

Thanks to everyone for the continued support, thoughts, and visits.

Not too much has changed over the past week. Mom had her chemotherapy on the 12th, as I mentioned, and has spent this past week recovering. She is extremely tired and we wonder if the effects of the chemotherapy are cumulative (they probably are) and so recovery takes a bit longer each time.

Her physical and mental states have not appreciably changed, either, with the exception of her being so tired.

We have a lab appointment this Thursday for blood counts and then the next chemotherapy treatment is scheduled for May 3rd.

Mom had her chemotherapy treatment today. It was a bit of a challenge, actually.

Her cognitive function was significantly less than it has been recently, and whether that's due to the steroid that she gets prior to, and during, her treatment or the disease, is unknown.

At any rate, we did get her to the oncology office and get the treatment done. I'm not sure that she said anything that made any sense the entire time.

That said, you can tell it's not delusional or demented in any way. What she is thinking is up there, but she just cannot get the words to match up with the thought. She has expressed to me in the past how frustrating it is, and you can see it when she tries to say something.

The human mind is a remarkable thing, but when there is a short somewhere in that circuitry, the strangest things can happen.

Mom's lab work looked good, and physically, she is doing pretty well. She's begun using her walker to get around the house and is very good with it. She has mentioned that it gives her more confidence when she is walking around and makes her feel more comfortable.

I took her outside Saturday afternoon to sit on the back patio. She really enjoyed it and we talked about the flowers and the overall condition of the yard. She had enough going on to tell me that something needed to be done about "that backyard" and that her flower garden "needed seeing to". It was a nice time and one that I'll remember. She loves being outside and one of her goals early on was to be able to go swimming this summer. We'll see how that turns out.

Mom had her doctor's appointment today and we reviewed the results of the latest series of CT scans.

The scans showed no growth of the cancer (no shrinking, either) and Dr. Aurora indicated that he was happy with this as it showed that the cancer has stabilized. So while this may not be extraordinary news or even outstanding news, it was good news. Mom was happy with the results and excited to have "won" something again.

Now, what she has "won" is three more chemotherapy treatments with Taxotere. Dr. Aurora feels that this offers the best chance at continuing to keep the cancer stable and not growing.

So, we will have these three treatments over the course of the next ten weeks, culminating in another series of CT scans to see where things are.

Mom is doing okay physically. She actually gained weight since her last doctor visit. Don't let her find out I posted that. Her blood counts are good, her blood pressure is good, and she is not in any pain.

Mentally, her cognitive function continues to be about the same. Not much changes there except when she takes her steroids during her chemotherapy treatments. At that point, and for a few days afterwards, she is completely off her rocker. But we expect that, and the benefits outweigh the negatives.

We are now set for an infusion next Monday and we will continue with the program.

Thanks for all the support. We really do appreciate it.

Beth and I took the kids over to visit Mom and Dad yesterday afternoon. My grandmother, aunt, uncle, and his wife (my aunt as well) were visiting from Lubbock.

Mom was doing okay, but you could clearly tell she was putting on a show for company. She tries really, really hard to make sure that everyone gets the impression that she is doing fine. Sometimes I wish she wouldn't do that because it becomes pretty obvious that: a) She's not doing fine, and b) It really makes her tired. But, that is the way she is.

I think overall her condition remains about the same as it has been for several weeks. I don't know if that's a good sign or bad sign, or even any kind of sign at all.

We have a doctor's appointment on Monday to discuss the results of the CT scan that Mom had on March 29th. I suspect we will be making some decisions about future treatment plans then.

I realize that the updates here have become less frequent and I wanted to make everyone aware that the reason for that is pretty simple: things aren't changing as rapidly as before. I guess we've reached some sort of plateau.

I also want to continue to express our thanks to the people from the ESC Region XI Service Center. You are amazing. The help and support that you have provided has been so important and well-received. Mom and Dad (and I) really do appreciate everything.

I am sure I will have an update after our appointment on Monday.