Metastatic Disease.

What it means: a noun, the development of secondary malignant growths at a distance from a primary site of cancer.

What it means to me: My mother’s kidney cancer has returned and metastasized in her bones and lungs and it will take her life. She is already at stage 4.

What it means to my mom: She will get to go and be with my dad and some of her very best friends and see God face to face sooner than later.

Kidney cancer does not respond to chemotherapy.

Radiation (which begins tomorrow) will shrink the tumors (and there are many) and give my mom relief from pain but this is not curable. This will not go away.

Now, while I understand all that is happening and what traditional wisdom and medicine tells me I also have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and so I lift it all up to him to do as he pleases.

I have 4 other siblings that all live joyfully close and we are all going to convene this morning to meet with her FABulous Dr. (Dr, Kevin White) to go over all the details of her treatment going forward.

What I know for sure at this moment is that she will remain in the hospital this coming week as they begin her radiation regime to get her pain level down.