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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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Apr 01 2015 
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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Mar 09 2015 
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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Dec 16 2014 
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…
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Dec 11 2014 
Mom’s Got Cancer – Entry 1 #fuckcancer
My mom, Michiko (Miki) Suwa Gorman was diagnosed with metastasized lung cancer four years ago. My mom is a two time Boston and New York Marathon winner and author. You can read her bio on Wikipedia.
I’ve started documenting my mom’s journey for my own therapy and am sharing our experience including the dark moments, tears,…
