Hard Act to Follow? Pa-Lease!

I will try to keep the on-line love fest to a minimum, but I would be lying if I said I did not shed a little tear after reading Gwennie's post. I knew the woman was capable, but that post was written like a true, dare I say, nurse! And as for the praise, all I can say is it takes a village. Thank you for the recognition, but it goes without saying that I am not doing this alone, and it is only because of the support we have around us that we're able to tackle these daily challenges.

But seriously, stay tuned for more posts from Gwennie. Girlfriend has skill.

I'm back from camping/swimming in Vermont (that teeny yellow dot is a tent). Big thanks to Gwennie for taking over, and Lissa for spending an overnight at the hospital with Mom on Sunday night. I keep hearing people tell me to make sure I'm taking care of myself, so I assure you, I FORCED myself to sit by the campfire (rain or shine) and drink beers and eat s'mores. Have no fear, Nurse Monica is rested and here. It is nice to be back at Mom's bedside, especially considering the new developments.

For the last 24 hours she's been experiencing some numbness and tingling in both of her feet, likely a side effect of the neurological impact this cancer is having. They've just done an MRI tonight of her spine to look for nerve damage, and we should have those results back tomorrow morning.

Nutrition continues to be a major challenge as well. There's only a limited variety of "nectar-thick" delectable for one to choose from (and hospital issue vanilla custard is not one of them). We're making due, trying different things (Marilyn D. your broth was a HIT), and I'm looking forward to seeing if I can puree things to the right consistency.

Signing off for the night, will post tomorrow with results.