If I work, Mom is immortal

On November 30th last year, Mom had me come meet her at the hospital. She was quite ill, had excruciating abdominal pain. She asked Arsenia to go with her to the hospital, and I met them there.

The following day was my interview for a new job. The company is called stag, take note of the small S as that is how it is preferred. I was applying for a developer position, in the end they offered me one for resource management. They saw my job history and it spoke. On December 18th, we signed contracts and I started.

That was also the day Mom checked out of the hospital.

Mom had colon cancer. The doctors took 8 hours removing part of her lower colon that had a large tumor. Right now she has a colostomy. That means her intestines have been diverted to an opening on the side of her abdomen and empties into a pouch. The pouch happens to be an expensive contrivance, which I did not find surprising given the nature of men.

We started the year on a good note. Lucy is having a baby, due this July. At a particularly depressed morning, I found her sending me a photo of her on her 16th week, and it lifted my spirits.


By this time we were grappling with the financial horns of Mom's cancer. The doctor, stupid enough as it seems to have notified us late, was asking us to act on the urgent matter of Mom's chemo and radiotherapy. Lucy was naturally incensed.

Not to put Mom's needs aside, of course. Mom thinks it's better to skip all of it. She would rather have the money spent elsewhere, cheaper natural cures.

I don't really have an answer right now. I'm not about to make a choice if it's the scientists we go or the herbalists.

My dream is simple.

Mom and the girls go to the States and live happily ever after.

Shock.

Is that me hearing myself that the US of A is going to cure all ills we have here?

Or maybe a desperate decision that anything is better than here.

Bah.

I am (an) ITRM. The Stolks pay me a sum to manage resources, and those aren't simple trades.

Shouldn't we all dream that if we worked hard enough, our mother will live forever?