…what to blog about

I’m feeling rather wrung out like a dish rag tonight.

Went to my mom’s oncology appointment which was rather disappointing. Apparently the average length of survival with a diagnosis of multiple myeloma is 12 to 18 months. Mom didn’t seem to react to that news at all. OR… you can live a decade or more and they have no idea why!! So I’ll lose my mother within the next year and a half… or she’ll be around until Sam gets into college and the new baby is 10! OR… any time in between.

What was very disheartening to me though was that they can’t use the baby’s cord blood cells. I wanted to cry when I heard that because I really had so much hope in that. Don’t we keep hearing about stem cells, stem cells, stem cells?

Turns out in a person my mom’s age that type of treatment can be worse than the disease. In fact it could kill her. They have to really suppress the immune system and give aggressive chemo, and then the blood from one baby’s cord isn’t enough any way. The oncologist did encourage me to donate the blood though, I’m thinking about it.

On the way home from the appointment I was listening to Rush talk about how the Holy Father died. He died the way he lived – with dignity, grace and the strength of his convictions. If this is it for my mom, I really want to encourage her to live every drop of life out of the life she has left. I want her to keep homeschooling, and hold and love the baby, and go to soccer games, and everything else as long as she is able. This may take some encouragement on my part as my mom tends to be the type to stay home alone with a book if left to her own devices. But I think she’ll feel better if she is with us and active.

But the whole thing has my head spinning. And seeing the Holy Father lying in state seems surreal too. It’s just an odd time.

My friend PMC made me think over the weekend about the focus of this blog. I originally intended for it to be more about – well living in a Domestic Church. I think I will try to re-focus my attentions that way, and actually with my mother and the new baby coming, perhaps that is what I am meant to do.

Incidentally, Calvin passed his referee class and is now an official United States Federation (something or other) soccer coach! He made it by 3 points!! The cool thing for him is that he has the potential to make a lot of money during this spring soccer season doing something he likes to do with a game he loves. I’m always happy when stuff like that works out.

Oh, BTW, TV characters that I wouldn’t mind be compared with:

Annie Camden (7th Heaven)
June Cleaver (who wouldn’t want to look that good vacuuming in heels and pearls!)
Lucy Ricardo (I Love Lucy too!)
Caroline Ingals (rugged, outdoorsy, not afraid of birthing babies)
Mama (Mama’s family)

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