Jim's Gem

Irish, thanks for thinking of me. Going thru a little bit of tuff stuff.
My mother has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer. It was found in her arm first, then they did an MRI and found some in her spine. A biopsy showed that it is the same thing, just metasticised in her spine area. She has been having pain in her back and ribs for a couple months and now they think this is why. Surgery was scheduled for last Friday when they though it was only in her arm, but now that it is in her bones it was cancelled. Chemo does not work on this type so they are doing Radiation to hopefully slow the growth and relieve her of some of her pain. She started radiation today. Six weeks on her spine, four on her arm. She is 82 and had beat a couple of really tough and rare cancers in the past. Not sure this time. Anyway she lives in Mission Viejo, a 100 miles drive from my driveway to hers with Los Angeles in the middle. I will be driving back and forth a bit this summer and until......
My father has serious dementia, he does not understand when we tried to tell him about mom. He has forgotten how to shave and is very confused a lot of the time. My mom is his sole caretaker. We (my 3 brothers and I) are trying to convince my mother to bring in at least a little bit of help. She is very stubborn. I do have one brother that lives near them but the oldest is in Oregon and the youngest is in Idaho.
I am maintaining, which I am happy with. I can get around the house with using a cane occasionally and use a cane to get out. My stamina is still not coming back, that's driving me crazy.
Well, that's long enough for the moment.