I should have known...
My mother, my grandmother, my aunt. Every time I have dared to hope that things would turn out ok afterall, the Universe has shown me the error of my ways. Yesterday, the news about Dad was hopeful: the colon tumor is highly operable, and the spot on the liver can probably just be taken out as well. Today they tell us that it looks like there's more in the liver than they initially thought ("several nodules"), and that Dad isn't a candidate to have them simply removed. The cancer is also possibly in some nerves (hence the odd shooting pains down his leg), and also possibly in his lymph nodes, as they saw some enlargement on one the scans.
He's scheduled for surgery in the morning to remove his colon tumor. He won't be able to eat for 4 or 5 days afterwards (gee, that's not going to help matters), but the doctor feels he needs to go ahead and remove the tumor so that his bowel doesn't become obstructed by it. The removal probably won't decrease his pain or increase his appetite (in fact, depending on where all the cancer is/what it's doing, he may never get his appetite back). He will probably be meeting with an oncologist today, but he already asked the surgeon what his chances are at this point. The surgeon said that if he gets chemo and if the cancer responds, he might get a year or two, maybe 3 or 4 at best. I'm afraid to place any hope in what the oncologist might say. No need jinxing anything further...
He's scheduled for surgery in the morning to remove his colon tumor. He won't be able to eat for 4 or 5 days afterwards (gee, that's not going to help matters), but the doctor feels he needs to go ahead and remove the tumor so that his bowel doesn't become obstructed by it. The removal probably won't decrease his pain or increase his appetite (in fact, depending on where all the cancer is/what it's doing, he may never get his appetite back). He will probably be meeting with an oncologist today, but he already asked the surgeon what his chances are at this point. The surgeon said that if he gets chemo and if the cancer responds, he might get a year or two, maybe 3 or 4 at best. I'm afraid to place any hope in what the oncologist might say. No need jinxing anything further...