More Things I Don't Like About Cancer

One of the things I am finding difficult about dealing with my mother's illness is that I don't know whom I can talk to about it.

My mom comes from a family with a life-long tendency to keep things to themselves. I recently learned that out of the six children who comprise my mother's side of the family, four of them have had cancer of the reproductive organs. Two siblings with breast cancer. Two siblings with prostate cancer. Two siblings cancer free.

It is no surprise that my mother decided to have genetic testing done. My brothers and I wait for the results.

Because my mom and her family don't talk about these kind of things, I'm not sure if it is ok for me to talk about it. I've told some close friends and a couple of coworkers. My in-laws. But I don't say much to anyone else. Which is hard, because I have a decent circle of friends who would happily send my parents happy thoughts and good wishes. But I don't know where the boundary lies, so I don't talk about it.

My mom is having a rough time of it. She has been in the hospital twice since the mastectomy, once to have a portion of her incision re-done and an infuse-a-port put in, once to drain an abscess and receive IV antibiotics for an MRSA infection.

This is on top of the break in the water line leading from the distribution line to the house. They were forced to shut off the water completely and have been living in a hotel for the past several days, as they wait for the other utilities to mark their lines before digging up and repairing the pipes.