quandry

Just last week one of our elderly sisters sat on the couch and declared, "No more surgery!" She went on to elaborate that she had lived a full life, had always had tons of energy... getting up before 5:00 every morning and going to bed after 11:00 at night. She was fed up with feeling exhausted all the time and attributed this to the major surgery she underwent last July. "Seven months!" she said, "and I'm just now beginning to have a little more stamina. So, no more surgery!"

We all heard her say it. In fact, some of us had heard her say it several times these past seven months while she struggled to slowly regain her strength and appetite and mental faculties. Last night she was back in the hospital with the same condition that required the emergency surgery in July. Today we are all on pins and needles. Will the doctors be able to treat her without surgery? What if they can't?

I've often declared myself, that if I ever come down with cancer I have no intention of undergoing chemo. I've used much the same language as my sister... I've lived a full life... blah blah blah. I have no certainty that I won't change my mind if it should happen, but I want the right to make the choice. My sister wants that right. Yet we don't want to lose her either. We are all praying for a less-invasive treatment that works.