October 31


My sister Jo-Ann called a few minutes ago from the hospital with news that could have been worse. She does have lung cancer, but yesterday’s bone scan didn't find any secondary tumours. Tomorrow she goes back for two more biopsies. There is a spot on her liver and a node on the adrenal gland.

Last Wednesday Eddie took her to emergency after she had a sleepless night of chest pains and shortness of breath. She’d been feeling miserable for a couple of weeks, which she attributed to her renewed attempts to stop smoking. She had had a bout of pleurisy at about the same time Eddie had his by-pass surgery but antibiotics seemed to have cured that. They didn’t. The lung infection is back. And the chest x-ray also showed a growth in her lung. Since then she’s returned to Hôtel-Dieu every other day for a series of tests and scans. Eddie and I are taking turns driving her in and I’ll be going with her tomorrow.

Jo-Ann’s son Jamie and his wife Caroline, our other sister Diane and her husband Gene, our two brothers Rick and David and their wives, Isabel and Patti, and Mom, are staying close by as well.

It was exactly seven years ago today that Dad died in the same hospital, of cancer. He had been a heavy smoker most of his life, but had stopped a decade before. The last thing he said to Jo-Ann and Rick was to tell them to quit. They’ve tried, but haven’t yet succeeded. That’s true of Eddie too, and he’s having a hard time dealing with the irony that he is enjoying right now the best health he’s had in a decade.

We are all hoping that Jo-Ann’s lung infection was a lucky break, calling attention to the tumour before it has had a chance to metastasize. If that turns out to be the case maybe we can rehabilitate the observance of Halloween in our family. At the moment Jo-Ann’s grandchildren and our nieces and nephews have a rather bleak view of the holiday.

Posted: Wed - October 31, 2007 at 12:56 PM          

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