I’ve been cancer-quiet for a little while, mainly because there hasn’t been anything to report. Mom continues to feel uncomfortable…increasingly so…but we’ve thought and been advised that the effects are cumulative.

The main problems have been continued abdominal bloating and neuropathy — a numbness with occasional tingling in the hands and feet — along with nausea, the kinds of actions that resolve nausea, and nosebleeds. The cough is ever-present, and she is back to sleeping propped up. When she sleeps.

She is currently undergoing emergency scans because ChemoDoc noticed a marked difference in the bloated area. It clearly grew, and it feels different. Whatever’s causing it, he says, should show up on the scans.

According to the doctor:

• She might have fluid in her lungs.
• It could be a blood clot in the liver backing up the works.
• The cancer in her liver may have stopped responding to one or more of the chemo drugs, or started to fight back.

According to the internets and my imagination (a dangerous duo, to be sure):

• The cancer may have metastatsized somewhere that has somehow escaped their notice.
• She has interstitial lung disease, which can be caused by radiation and chemo, especially when chemo involves platinum-based therapies…and recommended treatment for this kind of cancer at this stage does exactly that. Add in some other risk factors, and I really hope it’s just pneumonia. (Except pneumonia is a risk factor — damn it!)

I should know more by the end of the day, but the doctor is worried, so I am, too.