Rachel Caine, who has been fighting a long and awful battle with cancer, has made the decision to move to hospice care.
This post was made on her Fan Page on Facebook, and since not everyone has Facebook, I copied it to reproduce it in its entirety.
Dear friends …
Last week, something happened that meant a big, dramatic shift in my life: I failed out of my last cancer trial. I just wasn’t well enough to even start it.
Unfortunately, that left me with only two options: do another round of extremely brutal chemo (for which I was really too weak, and for which the odds of a positive were less than 10%) … or to move to hospice care.
Now, if you’d don’t know a lot about hospice, mostly it’s done in-home. Your doctor transfers your care to a hospice doctor and team who is more about making sure your home is safe for you, and provides you with medical equipment you need (I now have a shiny new cane and an adjustable toilet seat, beat that!).
I also have a team of nurses, including an every-other-day wound care nurse, supervising nurse, counselors, people to help me with everyday tasks that have become hard.
But hospice is not treatment. It makes sure that if I need pain relief, I get it. It helps me with oxygen if that’s required.
But I’m not getting better.
We don’t know how long this process will last; it’s absolutely unknown. The tumors will grow unchecked, and eventually spread. But we have support now, and 24-hr-on-call nurses. My doctor gave an estimate of six months, but it could be faster or longer. One day at a time is how it has to go now.
We have a ton of wonderful friends, but unfortunately this is a point where friends can’t do very much. We’re trying to stay in touch, but with COVID and my up-and-down health I’m not great at responding to messages, texts, etc. But will try.
I’m trying to feel more at peace, and I think I’ll get there but WOW is it breathtaking how fast life can shift under your feet, and your sense of control and … well, future … can spin away from you like your house in a tornado.
I’m going to try to keep writing when I feel up to it. I’ll do my best to keep you updated as things progress.
Most of all, I love you all. My husband Cat and I thank you for being part of our lives, you’ve made the world infinitely kinder, cooler, better, and truly special.
Love,
Rachel Caine
PS: If you want to do something for us, buying books from my back catalog is always a huge help. And the newest Stillhouse Lake book, HEARTBREAK BAY, is now available for preorder!
Preorder via Murder By The Book and received a signed bookplate https://www.murderbooks.com/rachel-caine-preorder
Preorder Heartbreak Bay via Kindle https://amzn.to/2Rv2RCi
Preorder Heartbreak Bay paperback via Amazon https://amzn.to/2Rx3I5k
Preorder Heartbreak Bay paperback via Barnes and Noble https://bit.ly/32vf0xo
Links to Rachel’s other books are available on her website: https://www.rachelcaine.com/
I’ve met Rachel years ago and we’ve been running into each other at industry events for years. Life isn’t forever, but writers leave behind their words, their stories, their thoughts, and we hope that they will live on. I’m going to close comments on this post and direct you to Rachel’s social media instead. If you’ve enjoyed her books and they meant something to you, now is the time to let her know.
