Steph wrote:

I hadn't yet mentioned my mother-in-law (aged 72) who has come out of the
closet (maybe even to herself) about Thanksgiving to the fact that she has
cervical/uterine cancer. After symptoms that she kept to herself for three
years, she could not deny it any longer as it is debilitating her to the
point it pains her to walk. The cancer has grown to the point that it is
pressing on her colon and hips. It is perhaps the size and shape of a
football. She is very stage IV with mets in her pancreas, liver, and lungs
at the very least. (determined by PET scan) I have no idea how long she
has, but I don't expect it to be very long. She lives by herself in Roanoke
not too far from my brother-in-law, but far from her daughter (my wife) who
is out in Figgertoes territory.

The thing I don't understand is prior to the PET scan, they were going to do
a hysterectomy and radiation therapy and now they are not. I would figure
it would be palliative - especially the hysterectomy. Whether or not it
would change anything of the course of treatment, it would take the load
off her hips, sacrum and colon. But they aren't going to do it

The only thing I could figure is that she might be diabetic, and they were
afraid of healing problems. She does not admit to diabetes nor take any
medicine for it, but to me she fits the profile and her sister died of it.
Her dietary habits are and always have been poor. (Also as in poverty
raised). She and her sister drank until very recently a case of beer
between them a night and she smoked three packs a day.

Any other ideas why they are not going to at least treat the symptoms?

--
How many mothers does it take to change a lightbulb?
None. I'll just sit here in the dark.