Hello everyone,
As many of you know, being in the sandwich generation is a hard place to be as we all juggle raising children and supporting aging parents. With the latter, we know that sooner or later something will happen with their health, but that doesn't make it easier to handle. 
 
Marcus' mom has been getting more and more tired in the past few years, yet tests had not revealed anything of immediate concern. However, a few weeks ago, she woke up with slurred speech and difficulty moving her right hand. Thinking it was a stroke, Marcus' dad called emergency services. However, after hospital staff performed tests and ran some scans, the real news came back - lung cancer. It was not a surprise, as she smoked up until we said we were going to have a baby, but this cancer news has been very hard to hear. The way it was discovered - tumors in the brain causing movement problems - is a little too close to Marcus' situation and it's especially difficult to feel that you can't be of much help with an ocean between us. 
 
We are now waiting on biopsy results to determine the exact type of lung cancer and then for the oncologists to offer treatment options. In the meantime, Marcus has booked a ticket to visit his parents in March, in between his cancer treatments. As they say in Sweden, we are "holding our thumbs" for the best possible outcome for his mom.