Carol Unger, 1931 - 2003

In the spring of 2002, on return from a Utah back packing trip, I had an urgent message from my sister. When I called she gave me the news that our mom had lung cancer. This was discovered when she was checked into the hospital for confusion. Carol and Kate came to live in my and Marie's house in Ballard (Seattle) so that we could take care of mom and coordinate her treatment. At times, this was very stressful. Because of my mother's confusion I was very protective of her.

Because we had heard of people being very sick during chemotherapy and because I was not comfortable taking full responsibility for my mother's care we found her a good adult family home to live in.

Chemotherapy hardly phased Carol. Through the spring she got stronger and mentally clearer. The adult family home was not really needed and more clearly inappropriate for her. When she finished chemo we moved her back to Port Townsend. There we found an excelete case manager.

In the fall, on completion of treatment, Carol was declared NED. That's No Evidence of Disease. This is the most positive prolimation that oncologists are willing to make as it is always possible that cancer cells remain in groups too small to detect.

<visit>

<bathroom>

<mother's day>

<< Prev | Next >>