Coming home from the hospital

A decidedly mixed day today. The level of bile (more specifically, bilirubin) in Mom's blood dropped by half in one day, which is confirmation that the drain tube is working well. The doctor was surprised by how much it dropped. Great!

And the oncologist also confirmed that he's virtually 100% certain that Mom has cancer, which is what caused the blockage in the first place. Not great. But not a surprise, either. As Mom prepares mentally and physically for coming home from the hospital, the reality of what's ahead looms large, and it started to take it's toll later in the day. Mom had a bone scan, which uses injected nuclear material to determine whether the cancer is in the bones. It seems possible that the pain from her hip is related to the cancer, and the scanner operator made a brief comment about "seeing something" but then couldn't say what it was they saw. Given the weekend, we likely won't hear until Monday or Tuesday about the scan results, which is about the same time we'll hear about whether yesterday's biopsy is conclusive.

In the meantime, Patio will be home around noon-ish on Saturday, and is looking forward to having visitors. Please call first, though. Don't feel like you need to say the right thing, or worry that it might come out wrong. I'm guessing that Mom will be needing company and support in a way that she hasn't before.

Thanks again for the supportive messages. You can write Mom e-mails or call starting Saturday afternoon. If you need her contact details, write me at publicdave@gmail.com or call me at 510-282-1133.

Love,
Dave