Jett has cancer

The empty ER, May 6

This is a post that I hoped I would never have to write. But the facts are that she has been a heavy smoker for over 50 years and hasn’t felt well for 18 months. During that time she has seen her doctor several times and each time her lungs were checked and found to be cancer-free.

That is no longer the case. After we got to Flagler Beach FL on May 6, on the first hop of the TN5, she was experiencing severe abdominal pain. So much pain that she agreed to visit the ER (and if you know Jett, you know that it had to be excruciating for her to make that decision). A CT scan was taken and she went home with some pain medication and a report that suggested that several things seen on the CT scan should be examined further. Upon consultation with a doctor – an oncologist because cancer was suspected – we agreed to extend our planned 3-day stay in Flagler to a full 3 weeks so that 4 additional tests could be performed. A meeting with the doctor on May 23 produced a devastating – but not unexpected – preliminary diagnosis: stage 4 lung cancer, plus a tumor on the spine that had displaced a disc. Incurable and inoperable. But not untreatable. He recommended that she immediately be admitted to the hospital so that her severe pain could be controlled and radiation treatment of the spinal tumor could begin. We went straight to the ER for the intake processing.

At the ER I mentioned to the doctor the symptom that most concerned me: her rapidly deteriorating mental state. In the course of just a few weeks she had developed severe aphasia – she was having a very difficult time remembering names for common objects. She also was, at times, speaking complete gibberish. This was not Jett, a woman who always had the right word when needed and never had trouble communicating. The doctor agreed that an MRI of the brain was indicated.

Waiting for the doctor, May 23

I didn’t have to be told, the next morning, what the MRI showed. I knew it meant that the cancer had metastasized to the brain. The MRI showed 3 brain lesions, plus swelling of the brain. It was recommended that Jett receive steroids immediately to reduce the swelling and to begin radiation treatments of the lesions. We agreed.

She remained in the hospital for 4 days. She is now back in the RV. The aphasia is somewhat improved, as is the pain (on morphine). But the prognosis, though not yet complete, will be grim. It is a terminal condition and the only questions are how long does she have and will her quality of life be good?

But those are questions that apply to all of us.

The TN5 has been aborted. Instead we are now embarked on a journey that we really didn’t want to take.

Hospitalized, May 23