Sad News

Well......some very sad news in our family. I got a call from my cousin and she said my aunt has cancer. My mom's only sibling Uncle Phil is married to Auntie Lynn and they are the ones we have been going to see in the Midwest for Thanksgiving over the past few years. They have 4 children and one of them is my age (43) and she has the 5 kids ranging from 15-3.  And....Auntie Lynn is the one that my children started calling grandma because she is the closest to one in our immediate family....this makes me so so sad.
Exhale.......just jeepers.
My maternal great grandma died of breast cancer, my grandma died of breast cancer when my mom was only 20 so I never knew her, my mom died of carcinoid cancer that metastasized to her liver, etc.., and now my aunt. If I think about my Uncle Phil--all of the main women in his life have had cancer.
So, it started out that she started getting stomach pains and back in early March and my cousin basically forced her to go to the hospital because it just got pretty bad. They initially diagnosed her w/ diverticulitis, however while she was there they of course ran several tests.  That's when they found the appendix cancer. It is apparently very rare and it's a unique kind of cancer. She had a tumor grow on her appendix, it ruptured and spread the cancer in to her abdomen. Her stomach lining, etc..and they don't know all where it is.
What's a bit crazy about this is she 73, but looks much younger....she doesn't smoke, drink, never did drugs, is very petite and not overweight.....works out, eats healthy, etc.. all the things you are supposed to do to take care of yourself. And, if not for the diverticulitis (which she did have), they may not have even found it now because apparently you can have this and not even know it!
She just had a colonoscopy yesterday to see if it had gotten into her colon and it at least is not on the inside---it may still be on the outside.
The plan is they are going to do this massive surgery.....they will operate on her in a few weeks where they open up, debulk and take out any cancer they can see as well as any organs that can be removed that have cancer, then they put chemo inside her abdomen, heat it, then take chemo back out. It is apparently up to a 12 hour surgery and then she will be in ICU for several days.  All the research I read says that this is the treatment they typically do for this, and sometimes they do chemo before the surgery (which they are not), and after....which I'm not sure what the plan is just yet.  She is on the older side for this massive procedure, but she is in a city where they have a specialty group that does this procedure.


I've been staying in touch w/ my two cousins and have called my aunt/uncle a few times. Have yet to talk to them, but my cousins are keeping me updated.  I asked my older cousin Lisa how she was doing and she said, 'Well, you know how it feels, you've been there'. 
Sadly, I do......and it is the single most worst thing I've gone through in my entire life.
I know it was a shock to them because they are all very close. All 4 kids live w/ in 2-30 minutes away from them. And my aunt is still taking care of my cousin w/ the 5 kids' youngest during the day.


I am just hoping and praying......and hoping that this surgery does what it is intended to do, she does well from it......and then we just see.
Wait and see......