Mom asked if this surgery will have any positive affect on Lily's lower back pain and chest pain? He said "maybe" to the chest but "no" to the back, obviously. He offered to formally admit Lily to the hospital right now and they can roll her back to the O.R. and he can explore if it's just the kidney tumors causing the pain but decided against, once mom said Lily is scheduled for chemo tomorrow and that if she's admitted it'd probably delay that treatment.
They agreed. No further surgery for now. Start the chemo tomorrow. But he did warn that he'll likely need to do this surgery again in about 10 days in order to keep her breathing. The line between life and death is hanging by a thread, here.
The tumor on her lung is that aggressive and dangerous. Hopefully, the chemo will stunt it's growth (even eventually reduce it, hopefully, but that could take some significant time). How much time? Nobody knows.
So, the surgeon is already scheduling her next surgery in 10 days and he wants to schedule another one after that and then another one after that. In fact, keep doing them to keep her alive as the chemo treatment continues.
From my view, Lily's breathing at home has been getting worse - picture a runner after a long but fast sprint. Bending over to in order to keep semi-vertical but frantically trying to "catch" her breath. We all know that standing or lying down is more oxygen efficient but there's a huge pain factor involved that only bending over with her hands on her knees seems to relieve some of the pain.
When I see this happening (everyday, btw) I just think this is what "fighting for your life" looks like in the real world. There's nothing heroic about it. It's just misery.
And, selfishly, it's incredibly hard to watch. I can't assist and I can't help. I can only watch like a spectator.
Lily's all alone on this one.
And she knows it.
I hope that she gets significant relief from the procedure otherwise I fear she will give up. I don't know how long anyone could last with this onslaught of pain coupled with the prospect of endless surgeries and chemo.
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