Been here before, alas...

Last Friday, I took my mother to the hospital for the fourth time in as many months, this time with abdominal pain. The only tests that came back positive were those for a urinary tract infection (not the cause of such searing pain) and a CT scan that showed ductal dilation in the liver. Based on that, and her previous diagnosis of uterine cancer (endometrial adenocarcinoma), she was admitted to the hospital oncology unit on the sixth floor. At least they can give her morphine, which keeps her pain in check better than the hydrocodone and acetaminophen (Vicodin or Norco) that we had here. Of course, she spends a lot of her time sleeping. I can tell she's really ill, since she doesn't waste much of her waking time in complaining.

Based on what I've read, if her cancer has indeed metastasized to the liver, that's about as serious as it can get. I had been concerned about her bladder and intestines before this, but she couldn't safely undergo any of the tests that might diagnose a spread at the cellular level; only if she had a visible tumor would the imaging studies she's had have shown anything. We haven't actually heard anything definite from any doctors, but I'm hoping that now that the weekend, Easter and Passover (for all but the most devout) are over, we'll learn something. I don't expect good news.