more cancer found

as things go, this is very bad news.

my mom called at 12:30 (minutes ago) to let me know the doctors found more cancer inside of my father. it was devastating news.

we talked only briefly and i only got the facts i needed for now. but it appears the surgeon began the surgery and were examining the area before cutting off the portion of the liver. it was especially important since there were signs of a swollen lymph node near the liver, even though it was deemed swollen for other reasons than cancer.

mom said they started looking and they found cancer underneath the liver, maybe outside the liver. in essence, it had spread beyond the boundaries of the liver. the surgeon said he couldn't operate and that it would be more dangerous if he did since the cancer spread.

the scans that were performed on my dad showed no signs of the cancer spreading because the cancer was underneath his liver.

the surgeon came out much earlier than expected, my mom said. my brother thought it was done already. my mom said she knew it wasn't a good sign because she thought it was too early for him to have been out of surgery.

there is nothing else he can do at this point. they will remain there a few days before going back home. his suggestion was going back to the oncologist and see about more chemo to see if it would shrink the cancer. if not...then there is nothing left to do.

it had been going so well and the cancer shrinking, except for this past month and a half when a large tumor in the right side of his liver doubled in size. i guess there was only so much the cancer could be killed off before it just stopped shrinking.

we are all taking it bad. my siblings, who made the trip up to houston to be with my mom (thank god they were able to do it), were crying. i am defeated right now, little tears but completely deflated.

and can't even begin to imagine what my dad will feel once the anesthesia wears off and he's told that he has more cancer and they couldn't do anything for him. that's something you read about happening in movies. i guess you never expect it to happen in real life and to a family member.