Her announcement shocked me. From the thumb nail, I knew she had 'bad news' - but I expected either Becky's Mom had passed or was literally on her death bed or Becky had ended their relationship. This is a whole other level of: "Oh, SHIT!". 1 of Amber's biggest problems is she never passed 'Adulting 101' & now has found herself punted into a post-graduate adulting program. PL - my immediate family went through a cancer scare, (thankfully proved negative), but the weeks of testing & general fear of the unknown & what was coming was almost all consuming... we zombied through our regular responsibilities.
She is about to undergo a bewildering round of very traumatic events & I know she's going to find coping very difficult - she has no coping skills. Tons of different tests to get staging & if it's spread, to try & find out to what degree & where. Her doctors - yes, plural, are going to have to work out a treatment regime based not only on her cancer diagnosis but allowing for the many & varied complications her weight will bring to the table.
If they decide to do a panhysterectomy, (uterus & ovaries), she's high risk for surgical/post-surgical complications: including but not limited to bleeding because in all the fat, they missed & thus didn't cauterize some blood vessels, infection; shit too many to list & my brain is all over the place with this right now. Panhysterectomy at a normal weight when it can't be done by keyhole surgery because of other issues involves a recovery process that initially needs LOTS of assistance for anything physical. Frankly, too much for Becky even if the boys help.
I have to agree, (ain't retrospection nice?), with many others who said the medical issues she presented with to Emerg & never really followed up on, may have been related & if so, strongly indicate a higher staging. My knowledge & experience with any aspect of oncology is thankfully, limited but I know we have up to date medical farmers here who'll provide helpful insight. Amber at this point, will have very little solid info to give us as so many tests remain.
A big part of how this will go will revolve around how she reacts. The odds have got to be against her - right now - but I wonder if there's a chance they'll improve if she follows, to the letter, her doc's treatment plan, especially weight loss? Does she have enough backbone to fight this? It's a tough, tough fight & cancer takes no prisoners.
Lastly, this will seriously affect the dynamics in their household. I can't foresee her NOT being bedridden for at least part of this & she may, (hope not), be in a great deal of discomfort or outright pain. The other 3 are going to have to juggle a normal life for themselves & their ongoing relationships with her, (finally genuine), needs for calm, quiet & "authoritative" leadership from... somebody. She's going to need an intelligent adult, capable of remaining calm to go with her & take notes on what the doctor says. When you're shit scared, you can't trust yourself to hear correctly & even if you do, you will forget some important bits. She is going to have a lot to juggle - can finally put some of her journals to "good" use.
Becky is going to need a LOT of support for the foreseeable future. First her mother, now Amber & her own health issues - that'a a lot to shoulder & at times she is going to feel very alone.
Added: if she chooses to do so & does it openly, honestly & all that good stuff, a video log of the entire process, (as appropriate), would bring in a lot of money.
