Everyone, thank you so much for all the help. I have some very good news to report. The cancer is "limited", not extended as originally thought. My mom got to come home today, and even though she has started chemo, she is still her old self. I am seriously rethinking the 8-14 months prognosis given to us last Friday. They have done a bone scan, brain mri, and several other scans, all negative. The only detectable cancer she has is a very localized area around the top of her lungs/windpipe. I have to tell you, I really had the heart torn out of me when I posted with the original prognosis, but it seems as though the outlook may not be so bleak after all. I apologize for being absent, too, but I was away from my desk all this week with inventory, and at the hospital after work. I think I am going to breathe a very cautious sigh of semi-relief, do some laundry, and get some sleep.