(I'm not sure what the appropriate board is for this post. Apologies if I'm not is the right place.)

It appears that my mother, who has been my rock through my previous illnesses and this one, had a small stroke yesterday. She looks much younger than her 70 years, and I think we both forget just how old she really is.

Yesterday afternoon, on our way home from my radiation, she began to garble some words and feel woozy/nauseous/disoriented. She didn't let on how just how bad she felt, and was blaming it on a bad breakfast burrito, but when she couldn't tell me the date, I insisted we go to the local hospital. Thank God I did! There was no sign of stroke on the CT scan, but she'll be having an MRI today, along with some other tests so the docs should be able to tell just what happened. She was trying to be brave yesterday, but I know she was scared.

My friend is driving me in to my treatment today, including some fluids and Aloxi for my nausea, and then I'll head over to see my Mom this afternoon.

My own illness I can handle, but I don't know if I can handle my Mom's.

Stage IV SCC lt lateral tongue, surgery 5/19/08 (partial gloss/upper neck dissection left side/radial free flap reconstruction) IMRT w/weekly Cisplatin & Erbitux 6/30/08, PEG 1 6/12/08 - out 7/14 (in abdominal wall, not stomach), PEG 2 7/23/08 - out 11/20/08, Tx done 8/18/08
Second SCC tumor, Stage 1, rt mobile tongue, removed 10/18/2016, right neck dissection 12/9/2016
Third SCC tumor, diagnosed, 4/19/2108, rt submandibular mass, HPV-, IMRT w/ weekly Cisplatin, 5/9 - 6/25/2018, PEG 3 5/31/2018