Effie reported this morning that Maria had one small vomit and disturbance during the night.
I took the kids to see The Princess and the Frog. Mum joined us as well. Afterwards I took the kids home so I could head in to take over Effie and Ben could be ready to be collected for his birthday sleepover.
Maria pretty much slept through the day into early evening, with small glimpses of wakefulness. One of our dear friends who we grew up with, Claudine, visited from Sydney with her three children. It was lovely to see her as we last saw them before we headed to Israel. My brother Mark and his family headed off back to Sydney in the afternoon and planned to be back over the weekend. With two small boys, it is a huge effort from our perspective. Mum and Dad have decided to stay on for a couple more days.
We also had our dear next door neighbours appear briefly before they head off on a long holiday. It was a blessing that Maria was awake at the time they arrived and there are now little guarantee that she will be conscious during the day (cancer progression).
Just before bed Maria woke in pain (this is a common occurrence as she sleeps for long periods without pain relief) and was very panicky about going to the toilet. On a number of occasions I explained that a catheter was in place. It turned out after I got the nurses involved that there was an issue which couldn't be seen on the surface. They were able to remove quite a bit of fluid. All is fixed and we'll be monitoring during the night.
Gabi came in this evening with Maria's parents. Gabi has stayed on and she is sleeping with me on the double sofa. She not long fell asleep so I was able to sneak out and type this entry.
I spoke with Maria's oncologist who had a chance to review the MRI after having been away. He said that there is clear enhancement of the spinal tumour in both directions as well as at least 10 new nodules lower in the spine. There is also enhancement in the brain with two new nodules in the cerebellum, which accounts for her lack of any type of balance now, fear emotion and troubles with her speech and swallowing. He had spoken with the Hospice doctor and both agreed that more than likely Maria will not leave the Hospice.
Because of her swallowing problems, I have taken the active step of speaking with the doctor and removing some of her non-essential medication. We have also introduced some of her meds in liquid form.
As touched on above, there are a number of disease progession signs that we are witnessing, such as the: increased sleep; nausea; vomiting; headaches and other acute pain; confusion; anxiety; speech and motor control; decreased appetite (the Hospice food may play a part in that one).
As Maria is very selective as to who is around her for any length of time, our brother-in-law Brian will come and stay over tomorrow night with our dear friend Janelle travelling down from the Blue Mountains to do the weekend night shifts. Although I am happy with the break and having time with the kids, I am not totally comfortable being away from Maria for any long period of time.
