Beware crazy driver

Mom's oncology appointment was yesterday and it was very sobering. The discussion centered on options to increase the time Mom has left: does she want to spend a lot of that time getting treatments? Does she want to risk side effects to increase that time? Those are questions I am sure she is wrestling with as I type. She still needs to get a PET scan to determine if the cancer has spread, but the decision will have to be made by next Wednesday. Sigh.

While Mom was out getting some lab work done, I had a few minutes alone where the tears could fall and I could let the enormity of it all sink in. It was nice to be in an office where they know what to do with people who are hearing really terrible news. They left me alone, and it was exactly what I needed.

Bad diagnoses don't change the fact that grocery shopping still needs to happen, so we headed off to the store when the appointment finished. After the Farmers' Market debacle, we had to be strategic about the grocery aisles. Should I shop for her? Would the cart offer enough support? Aha! What about an electric cart she could sit on? That was our answer.

We found the carts, got the power on, and she got comfortable. With a turn of the handle, the cart started moving forward, but Mom slowed down and looked over her shoulder. Our eyes met and, for reasons we cannot begin to understand, we started laughing. Mom's eyes were twinkling and I laughed until tears rolled down my face. It took us a second to get ourselves back under control, and then off went the electric grocery shopper. She got stuck in aisles and couldn't get out, she careened around corners and tried not to hit people. She learned to back up and scoot out of people's way. It was a riot.

And it meant Mom was doing her own shopping. Every little bit of independence is a gift, and she loved it. But if you see her headed down your aisle in the grocery store, I would still recommend you get out of the way. Just to be safe.