More Tests

Today my mom had her petscan. She was really nervous as she is claustrophobic. She said the nurse was really kind and helped her to get through it. The petscan revealed that there is no cancer in her lymph nodes, however, the 2 spots on one lung, may actually be one large spot. The large spot or tumor is pushed up against the trachea and it appears that surgery is not an option. The group of doctors on her case have met and decided that she needs to have a CT scan with contrast and a brain scan. These will be done late Thursday afternoon. I've done quite a bit of research online. Too be quite honest it's all very overwhelming. I'm trying to be upbeat when I talk to my mom and take this one day at a time but it's really hard.

Results...

My mom has Adenocarcinoma lung cancer. She will have a petscan next Tuesday. Depending on the results of that the doctors plan to do surgery, hopefully, Thanksgiving week. Right now, we're just taking it day by day.

The Biopsy

My mom had a biopsy today. The good news is her left lung is clear. The bad news is there are two places on her right lung and one of those was bleeding. What does all that mean? To be honest, I'm not sure. The pulmonary specialist said it is definitely cancer. Now, we wait to find out what kind of cancer and what stage. So my sister calls to give me all the details. When I call to check on my mom about 2 hours later the doctor's office has already called and scheduled her follow up for tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Is that a good thing? I mean ...we will know what's going on, but wow, how did the dr. get the results so fast?

My Mom

Well, I used this blog for Grad school and then I re-vamped it for a Web 2.0 class I took. Now, I'm going to give it a shot just for the heck of it. Hopefully it will give me some place to write what's on my mind.

I got some really upsetting news this week. My mom, who is 64 years old, has a comet shaped "spot" on the upper lobe of her right lung. The so called "spot" is 6 by 8 cm. It was kind of weird to get the news. At first I was in shock. Next, I was mad. My mom smoked for 43 years. She started smoking when she was 14 years old. She stopped smoking 7 years ago and within 3 months she was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. There is no connection between quitting smoking and the COPD. It just seems ironic that she quits and then she is diagnosed. I realize the damage was already done. I guess stupidly it just didn't seem fair. Over the last....I'm not sure how long, she has been coughing up blood. Strange too that they only found this because she was supposed to have another surgery and needed clearance from a pulmonary specialist and cardiologist.

Upon seeing the pulmonary specialist she was scheduled for an x-ray. He sent her straight from the x-ray for a CAT scan. Now she has to have a biopsy. Hopefully this will be scheduled for next week. They also sent her for a diagnostic mammogram today to make sure whatever it is hasn't spread. Ok, so now what is the priority? the first surgery or the "spot".

I remember as a child, hiding her cigarettes or worse yet throwing them away. This usually led to some kind of punishment... as cigarettes were expensive "back then". I have no idea how much they cost now. One time as a teenager, I figured out we could buy a new car at what they spent on cigarettes yearly!

So now, I keep reminding myself, it could be an infection, but the dr. told my sister that most likely it's not. And of course I feel like the "bad" daughter because I wasn't at the appt. I also feel out of the loop because all I have to rely on is word of mouth. I'm the one that usually takes the notes and writes everything down so I can come back and research what's going. I guess in a way the computer/internet is my security blanket. It's gives me a way to understand what's going on. Yes, sometimes you can get too much information, but at least I feel somewhat educated about the situation.

As I wait I feel helpless. The only thing I can do is pray. Pray for my Mom's health, my Dad's well being, the doctors that are trying to figure out what is going on, my sister, and my brother, whose wife is going through medical issues of her own. I have lots of people that I can talk to, but to be honest I don't really want to talk about it. I feel like it's easier not to talk about it. That probably doesn't make sense, but for now I think I'll talk about it like this.

What is a Wiki?

Wikis can be used in numerous ways. I think as a staff it could be a great way for us to collaborate with each other, even if we can't all be in the same place at the same time. It allows for creativity of all participants.

One drawback I think we might encounter is if someone has an "issue" with someone changing what they have written. I think if we enter this knowing that we are working together for the betterment of our students we shouldn't run into any problems.

I also think students could work in small groups or teams to create projects or review materials.

What is a Blog?

As I write about blogs I think back to when I went to college. I wasn't nearly so easy to stay in touch with high school friends. Now, some years later, my teenage daughter has the luxury of the cell phone, text messages, instant messages, blogs, the list goes on.

When I first sat down to write in a blog I thought about the journal I had as a young girl. I don't think I will share such things as the crush I had on Donny Osmond, (Yes, I'm dating myself!) but I am able to share ideas about technology that may or may not be of interest to someone else.

What is a blog? Since Wikipedia does such a good job explaining it I think I"ll let the collective "them" do it for me.

Web 2.0

What is Web 2.0? According to Colin Lankshear and Michele Knobel in their article From Web 2.0 to School 2.0? "Web 2.0 is characterized by "serviceware": customizable online services and applications accessed via a web browser and located entirely online, which can be accessed from any computer." "Schools and classrooms that successfully incorporate Web 2.0 principles, resources, and technologies will adopt a new form of learning that involves co-design, co-creation, and shared problem solving."
Some terms that we think of when Web 2.0 is mentioned are: Blog, Wiki, RSS Feed, Podcast, Social Bookmarking,...
Can you think of any others?