Cancer

So if you've read the title, which I'm sure you have, because why else would you be here, correct? Cancer. The C-word. Well, one of many, but this particular one has reared its ugly head into my family. It's my beloved mother. She was supposed to have a hysterectomy on Dec. 1st, but during some pre-op imaging, they found a mass on her lung that they were concerned about, so they postponed the hysterectomy to figure this out. After a biopsy and other tests, it turns out it's malignant. My mother has lung cancer. I can't say I'm completely surprised, seeing as she's been a smoker since before her teen years and she's 68 now. Needless to say, I'm shattered. She's always been a huge part of my life. I told my girls, they are 18 and 15, and they're pretty gutted as well. She threw a bunch of medical terms my way, but what really stood out was when she said on Jan. 3rd, she finds out her expectancy, or, to be blunt, how long she probably has left. There is a very small chance they can get it all out. She doesn't want to do chemo. I respect that, but I had hopes and dreams of her seeing her great-grandchildren and her seeing me as a grandmother, and her granddaughters becoming mothers. I guess only the future will tell itself. I found all of this out last week, by the way. On Tuesday the 14th. Cautious optimism is how I feel at the moment in a nutshell.