Audrey's Lung Cancer Story

Audrey goes through Radiation

The day after she got her wig, Mom started her Radiation treatments in Galesburg. It was nice that she didn't have to go out of town. She had treatments on weekdays and had the weekends off. Her hair didn't fall out right away. She had heard stories of people that didn't have their hair fall out. She heard a lot of stories about cancer. About different kinds of cancer. So each story is different.
After 10 radiation treatments, on Thursday May 12, mom noticed that her hair was starting to fall out. She seemed concerned and after talking to her I told her I would be there within 2 hours. Donnie stayed home so he could take Jake to get his driver's license that day. I arrived at Mom and Dad's and Mom washed her hair before she went to her hairdresser. Her loose hair formed a hairball on top of her head. I had my camera with me and took pictures. I took her to her hairdresser, Sandy, and took pictures of Sandy cutting her hair and the side hair was hanging on but the top was thin. Sandy also styled mom's new wig. It looked very nice.
On April 22, I received a shipment of silkworms. I am recalling that that was the day that mom found out that she had spots in her brain. I could be wrong on the date but it was really close to that day. I started feeding my worms Mulberry leaves but we had a late April freeze that killed several Mulberry leaves off. I was having problems finding enough leaves to feed my silkworms. After mom went to Sandy's, she and I went around looking for Mulberry leaves. As we were driving down by the former Lumberyard, I couldn't resist saying, "Did you ever imagine that you would be 75 years old, diagnosed with lung cancer and riding around with your nearly 50 year old daughter looking for mulberry leaves to feed Silkworms?" Of course, none of this ever crossed anyone's mind.
When we got back to Mom and Dad's I called home and found out that Jake had passed his driver's test. I was so happy. He has been patient since he will be 19 August 21. Mom and Dad are glad also. They have done so much for us these past 2 months. They paid for Sherry's teeth and gave Jake a car. It has affected us greatly.

posted by Cindy @ 7:52 PM