Never Ending Wait

I have some news to share. News that is hard to share.

My grandmother has been sick a good bit lately. During the fall she was hospitalized twice for the same symptoms. The doctors never really could narrow down the conclusions as to what exactly was causing her to pass out or lose control of her movement. They were however able to increase her meds to where she was taking 21 pills a day. Even with all the changes to her medicine, she hasn't really been feeling like herself. To add to all the drama, she has acquired this rash of some sort.

With a trip to the dermatologist, a biopsy, and a few days of waiting, an answer finally came. A week ago today we found out that my granny has skin cancer. With a little more information, but not much, this is all we know right now. The biopsies have been sent for further testing. My mom emailed me this morning to let me know that the type of cancer is called Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma. We will know next week the stage and treatment options.

Not knowing what any of this means, I have done a little research:

This type of skin cancer is not caused by the sun, actually one of the treatments involves lying in the tanning bed. I found that ironic. If caught early, it can easily be treated. Because it is a lymphoma disease though, it has the possibility of spreading to internal organs (this all depends on what type of CTCL it is). This is the part that scares me the most. My grandmother also has some sort of blood cancer, but it was caught very early on. There hasn't been much concern over this, but I hope that this does not intensify the newly discovered cancer. The literature talks about isolated patches and widespread coverage. I'm pretty sure my granny is in the widespread coverage since she has areas from the top of her head to the tops of her feet. Waiting for more information seems endless, but hopefully soon we will know more.

She is an amazing woman in that she picks the positive out of the situation. She is thankful they are not on the bottom of her feet yet and her daily pill count is down to 8.

If you are the praying type, a prayer or two would be much appreciated. Not just for my granny, but also my mom. She lost her dad to cancer 4 years ago.

I am thankful for the support that I have around me though. My friends and family are the best I could ask for. The guy has been most supportive making sure I stay calm until we know enough to get worked up over.

For this I am thankful. For the wait, I dread, but I will learn patience one of these days.

More news hopefully sooner than later.