Better than the average bear, so Happy Father's Day

yes, that is what dad's doctor said of this last two years.

I started writing this Friday but I just finished now so I apologize. Dad had his last appointment for Oncology yesterday. There is no further treatment for us to try so we will not see oncology anymore. It was a tearful goodbye for several reasons. When you hang out somewhere on a regular basis for two years you tend to get close to people. It may have seemed heartless when I excused myself to wait outside but I am not. I can hold it together as long as no one hugs me or cries, I figured less chance of that outside. All in all I was not shocked by the news or the scan reports. He is down to 181 pounds, was running a low grade fever (probably from the tumors) and the tumors have grown. The picture is of one of the several liver tumors he has (marked by the letter A and the line), this one has doubled since March and it is now 4.4 cm (about 1-3/4").

On the good side, Dad looked 100% better than he did on Tuesday. Hospice put him on a steroid that seems to cut the pain greatly. Maybe he is also a little relieved that he doesn't have to endure any more treatment. So we were told to enjoy what we have and make the best of it. Dad did ask how much time they thought he had and he was given a loose ballpark figure of 4-6 months. We were also told nobody can really know that because he has done so much better than the 12-18 months he was given at the beginning.

We just got back from his house (Sunday) and he was looking well and fairly "normal" (at least what his normal has become). So we will go camping in two weeks as we do every year.

On a different note, I was on the phone with my mom on Thursday when my Grandma called her on the other line. (This is the same gram that had her third knee replacement in April and almost died the Friday before Mother's Day from bleeding when an emergency stint was put it.) She was my babysitter all through school and has been my second mother my whole life so we are very close. Anyway she was just told she has "an unknown mass" in her left lung and was told to see the Pulmonary doctor July 25th. Now my mom and I didn't like the thought of waiting 6 weeks to find out what this "unknown mass" is. So my mom called and was told they would look at the films and if they were concerned they would call and get her in sooner. I just found out they called and they want her in this Tuesday - I would take that as they are concerned. I am concerned because she sucked 2nd hand smoke from my Pops for about 50 years and he died 11 years ago from small-cell lung cancer - 3 weeks after he was diagnosed.

So the universe continues to test my strength. I don't know what more to say right now.