My mom has been struggling off and on emotionally. On the one hand, she's really cheerful sometimes; on the other...
Well, we just found out yesterday it's in her bone marrow. Still a very good prognosis, they said, but a much tougher battle. They started chemo on her yesterday, which was a surprise.
Still no results on the lung, though. They hope it's infected lymph nodes, not cancerous ones.
And my grandmother is getting worse. She's playing the diva (which she has done all her life) and laying on guilt trips with a very heavy hand. My mom came back from chemo yesterday, short of breath and having a hard time getting around. And what does Grandma say?
"I'm glad you're home. They won't wait on me the way you do."
Of course my uncle and brother are very good to her. They just won't wait on her hand and foot like my mom does. It's stressing my mom out and upsetting her.
Honestly? My grandmother should have been institutionalized years ago. She's a paranoid schizophrenic, emotionally abusive towards my mom, and she's unwilling to cooperate in her own health. At least in a good nursing home she would have people who are specially trained to make sure she takes meds and eats like she should; I think she AND my mom would be better off. My mom has to work; she can't be there all the time, and she isn't trained to deal with someone like her.
But my mom's two sisters would not go for it. Her sisters prefer to leave the responsibility to my mom and live several states away, and almost never visit. THEY send her money and gifts; my mom has to live with her. However, with my mom's illness, my uncle just might start pushing for that. He's already forcing my grandmother to show some considerations for my mother's current health.
It's also taking a toll on my brother, who moved in with my mom back in March. He's been a great help to my mom over the past few months. Since she got sick, he's been wonderful. But he has to work AND go to school as well as pick up the slack at home. He and my uncle are sharing responsibility for my mom and grandmother. But his schoolwork is suffering right now.