another update from Chris...

I can't even begin to imagine how hard this week is and will be for Chris. These updates are dufficult for me to read, and post here without tearing up a little.

Here is Chris's latest update:

Yesterday was a bit of a circus. We woke up in a hospital room after a long and confusing night. Dora (Cindy's Mom) came to the hospital and shortly after that we talked to Dr. Murray. He explained the same thing that Dr. Gonzales explained the day before.

We are out of options for fighting the cancer. We can treat Cindy's pain and nausea at home through hospice care. We needed her to agree to a DNR order. Up until now, Cindy has always said she wanted to be kept alive so she can continue to fight. We explained to her that they don't have a liver machine. Dr. Murray explained that all a DNR (do not resuscitate) order means is that if she has an acute event (heart or breathing stops) that no ambulance would come and put a tube in her throat, beat on her chest or otherwise shock her body into working for a little while longer. He said that it would not be a good thing and they would have to do that That was a nice way to put it. The hospice care can get her home and comfortable, but then need a DNR order. Cindy agreed. We went home.

I should say that I realized yesterday what a hard job Dr. Murray and his staff have. That goes for Dr. Osborne and his staff at Baylor as well. I've been critical of them in the past - sometimes rightly so - but I have the utmost respect for them and their professions. They have to figure out a disease that nobody else has ever figured out. They have to give people drugs that are going to make them sick and may not work. They have to balance quality of life with quantity of life. Then they have to tell people on a regular basis that they are out of options. I could tell that Dr. Murray was very sad yesterday. He has a lot of those days.

I should also say that once we made those decisions, the staff at MDA and the hospice agency moved quickly. They got her pain meds and sent her home a couple of hours after that. I know that things can move slowly in a hospital and I thank God for things moving quickly yesterday.

My mom and dad came to Houston yesterday. They will help us through this. Thank you to all of our family, friends and church family for prayers and visits and wanting to help.