Go beyond the boundaries

Yesterday was the meeting we have all been dreading: it was the meeting that was going to decide the next step to be done after the two surgeries and thus my mom’s “destiny”. We all had the hunch that the doctors are about to give up on the healing and put forth a palliative path to deal with the situation. It meant for us all defeat. We prayed a lot before the meeting and prepared as many arguments as we could think of and the meeting went smoothly. The doctors listened to our arguments and agreed to postpone the final decision such that they could monitor my mom’s health and see if in 10 days she would be able to be in a better condition, recovered from her surgery and the question of doing a treatment would be more rational. I felt that the attitude of going on the attack instead of sitting back and being passive along of course with the prayers paid back.
I believe that we have to know as much as possible on the disease we are fighting, we are not doctors and will never be, it is just that we cannot count on the doctor all the time. Being a passive patient doesn’t help, the more we learn about the disease the more we learn about the ways to cure it. We have to be risk takers and doctors will not support us in often times, plus the cold realization that we simply aren’t presented with any really viable alternatives. Also, I am beginning to realize that no one oncologist can know all there is to know about any specific type of cancer; there is just way too much information out there, new research and clinical trials. So the family is in the perfect position to focus all its energy on doing research and learning about that one specific type of cancer and searching all around the world for newer options while of course considering the more traditional approaches.
At last I think it is important to celebrate my mom’s success in her two operations, I just cannot wait till she gets back home so that we can throw a huge party…

Die, my dear doctor, that's the last thing I shall do. - LORD PALMERSTON