Two parents in the hospital!

Dad went into the hospital on Thursday and got a new knee (to go with the new shoulder he got in November, perhaps). The surgeon was delighted with how well the surgery went, Dad's pain is apparently no worse than is to be expected under the circumstances and he's already walking (assisted) up and down long hallways. Yesterday they transfered him to the same rehab hospital where he "did time" two years ago after two major back surgeries. He absolutely loved the staff there, so we know he'll be in good hands this time around.

I wish Mom were doing as well! She was treated for a kidney infection a couple of weeks ago but was having some pain. She went to the doctor last Monday and got a cortisone shot for bursitis in her hip. She was feeling better by the latter part of the week but still not great, so she went back yesterday. I learned from my sister earlier tonight that they sent Mom to the hospital from the doctor's office! Her potassium and sodium levels were both quite low, and they ran some other tests to see what's up. Well, turns out Mom has cancer, again! (She had breast cancer nearly 15 years ago.) It seems they found a "suspicious mass" near her kidney that turned out to be a retroperitoneal tumor. Worse, her lymph nodes are enlarged. They'll do a biopsy tomorrow to determine whether it's lymphoma or sarcoma. My sister told me that, if we have a say in the matter, we need to vote for lymphoma, which is apparently relatively easy to treat with chemo and perhaps radiation. Sarcoma, on the other hand, would mean surgery and the tumor is in such a tricky place that the doctor said he'd want to send Mom to the Anderson clinic in Houston or to the Mayo clinic to have it done!

Seems weird to be praying that the biopsy shows lymphoma, but that's the situation.

So here I am, with two parents in the hospital, in different states! (Their city straddles a state line; the two hospitals are only a few miles apart.)