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Oct 06 2015 
Entry – 9 – Tears in Heaven
2:39 was a significant number in our home. It was my mom’s best time when she won the NY City Marathon. As I spent those days as my mom’s care giver, there were choices I needed to make about work. I had several events lined up back to back and was contemplating if I should…
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Sep 16 2015 
Mom’s Got Cancer – Entry 8 – Circle of Life
The hospice nurse came to drop off some meds for my mom and found her lying down in between the coffee table and couch. I had just seen my mom a week ago and although she was walking slowly, she was somewhat self sufficient. The nurse called me and said my mom was ok but…
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Aug 13 2015 
Mom’s Got Cancer – Entry 7 – Love is Everywhere
We’ve been on a roller coaster ride over the last seven months, since my last entry. My mom was slowly healing and getting her strength back after the ordeal in the hospital. She was continuing her treatment of afatinib and erbitux. The side effects were rough although she did not lose her hair. By this…
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Mom’s Got Cancer – Entry 6 – One Thousand Cranes
The month my mom spent in hospice care was tough on the whole family. We thought it was the end for her. I was doing my research on what to do if someone dies at home, in another country, crematory services, etc. I felt like a heavy, dark cloud of death was hanging over our…
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Mom’s Got Cancer – Entry 5 – “Marijuana, Morphine and a Trip to Napoli”
Out of the hospital and straight into hospice. During her five-day stay, she was treated for a liver biopsy, bleeding in her abdominal cavity, and a pulmonary embolism (blockage of an artery in the lung caused by blood clots), which led to an inferior vena cava filter implant. My mom was so weak after the…
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Jan 22 2015 
Mom’s Got Cancer – Entry 4 – “The Hospital”
My mom’s recent cat scan had shown significant growth in her liver and she was not coping with the side effects of the afatinib tablets. The doctor initially put her on 40mg daily. Within a few days her face had completely swollen up so much that she could barely open her eyes. There were two…
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Jan 07 2015 
Mom’s Got Cancer – Entry 3 “Total Resentment”
Remember when I mentioned I let go of the role of irritated daughter and embraced compassionate caregiver? Well, I reversed the roles again.
There is a Japanese expression called “wagamama”, meaning spoiled brat, which is what I will use to call myself periodically. It is also a noodle house in London (not a very good one…
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Mom’s Got Cancer – Entry 2 “I Am Not My Hair.”
“I am not my hair. I am not my skin. I am the soul that lives within”. – India Arie
Tarceva was the miracle pill that extended my mom’s life for another year with minimal side effects. We had started to see another doctor in Bellingham as the commute from Vancouver to Burlington was taking a…
