I started a blog. I was going to post every day. Right. A lot has happened since then, some good, some bad. Last month (yikes) I told you all that I was going back to school. Unfortunately, I have had to delay that for a while. On August 28, my mother was diagnosed with liver cancer. Mind you, she went to the doctor because she thought her ulcer was acting up, and that's why she had no appetite.
On September 9, she received her prognosis. Inoperable, Stage 4, Primary Liver Cancer (HCC), with one year or less to live, maybe a few months extra if the new medicine works. WTF????
I have been staying at my parents house from Monday evening through Friday afternoons since then. Debbi and the kids have been wonderful in their support of me through this. The cats are simply confused and can't quite figure out why I go away and come back. They make up for it on Monday morning by sitting on me because I am there (of course, the sitting starts around 3:45AM and continues until I get out of bed).
Caring for elderly parents (or grandparents) isn't easy when they're healthy, but it's multiplied by 100 when they are ill. The emotional toll is immense. Thankfully, I have a strong wife and strong and understanding children (stepchildren, technically) that are helping me through. I also have seven brothers and sisters, who have been great (mostly) during this. We all know, at least my sisters know, that it's only going to get worse. My brothers? One has lost weight, but I don't know why, one is still an asshole, one gets it and doesn't know what to do, and the other one, the smartest but also the youngest, knows exactly what's going down and is scared shitless. My sisters are also scared shitless, but they come over and cook, because they know I can't.
My father is a total trainwreck. He met my mother at Somerville High School in 1945 in homeroom class. He was sixteen; she was not quite fifteen. They have been married for 56 years. They have lived in the same house for 50 years. They worked and saved and scrimped and raised 8 children in that house with 9 rooms and only one (!!!) bathroom. And it all comes down to a year or less. Sometimes life really does suck.






































