For the next… I don't know how long, I may be very scattered and not quite my normal self, and I might be missing or running late to RP.

About fifteen years ago, my aunt was diagnosed with cancer. It was a small and rare type that typically would go misdiagnosed for years until the resulting tumor would become too large and too deeply embedded into the brain to be removed or treated. She was very lucky when she went into the doctor complaining about what for all intents and purposes sounded like a long-running sinus infection or possible onset of allergies, that said doctor had just days before read a paper on this type of cancer and it was fresh enough in his head that, on a whim, he decided to screen for it. Although she lost her sense of smell and the surgery and treatment resulted in some disfigurement of her face, the cancer was safely removed.

A handful of years later, the cancer came back and in the same area. Again, it was caught early and safely removed, and all scans after showed her to be cancer-free once more.

A year ago last March, I believe, they found cancer in her again. It was in her spine, skull, and liver. And it was a type that was extremely aggressive and resistant to treatment. We were all told that if we were lucky we might still have her for Thanksgiving, but we wouldn't have her for Christmas. I remember seeing her last July and… despite being warned that she didn't look good, I was not prepared for what I saw. I remember being too afraid to hug her because I was certain I would break her, and crying on the way home, despite my mother telling me that we had seen her on a good day. That September, the doctor decided to "try one last treatment".

And she started to get better.

It wasn't that the cancer was going away or getting smaller, but it stopped getting bigger and spreading further. And her strength came back. She wasn't bedridden and drifting in and out of consciousness anymore. She was alert, her personality came back, and she started to teach herself how to knit for a new hobby. I remember sitting across the living room from her at Christmas and seeing how excited and animated she was over the box of yarn my mum and I had bought for her, and thinking how -good- she looked compared to the previous July. And she was only getting stronger as the days went by. By this past April, she didn't even need a walker anymore to get around the house.

And then in June, the doctors took her off all her treatment and medicines, because "she wasn't making any progress". Apparently, they were not content that they had stonewalled this aggressive and resistant type of cancer. It's now been two months, and she has nearly tripled her weight in retained water and looks eleven months pregnant. She is horribly swollen and covered in bruises, and the pressure from either the retained water or a possible cluster of tumors on the side of her head and face has badly affected her eyesight and hearing. And… about two hours ago, I received word that she is now no longer able to stand or sit up anymore, she's completely blind in one eye, almost blind in the other, and they don't think it'll be much longer before she'll be deaf. While she still has her personality, she is very tired and… she's giving everyone the impression that she's in the process of saying her goodbyes.

… So… yeah. My family and I are kind of sitting on deathwatch right now. We're all taking this rather hard, especially considering how well she was doing just a couple months ago. We were sort of resigned to (and okay with) eventually losing her to chemo poisoning because at least then she would have quality of life up until the end, so none of us were prepared for what's happened since June.

I will be getting back off the truck tomorrow at some point, which is a few days earlier than I had planned. I don't know when exactly, it'll depend on what my husband gets for a delivery route in the morning, so I may end up having to cut out early from RP to finish packing. From there, my availability to attend RP or DM anything on social days is going to be based on what's going on with my family at that exact moment, and I may not always have time or opportunity to send a notice that I'll be late or unable to attend. Also, please don't assume that if I'm a no show/no say that things have gone for the worst – there's some young children involved, and I may be asked to help keep them occupied on some days.

Regarding tomorrow specifically… there was a scene I wanted to do that was directly related to the beginning of the next MSQ arc. I don't know if there was a plan to do something else instead, but if everyone is okay with it I'd like to request that we at least start 2.3 so I can have that over and done with before my schedule has a chance to get unpredictable. After that, we can go off and do whatever, or just time-bubble the events or something – it's just one of those scenes that can only 'happen' at that point in MSQ, and with my schedule so up in the air I don't want to accidentally end up holding up any progression that might happen in the near future.

… Just reusing this thread, cause I don't feel like making another…

I got the phonecall an hour or so ago that I've been both dreading and wishing would come quickly. My aunt died early this morning. She's no longer trapped in that body, in pain and barely able to interact with the world around her, so… I'm just trying to keep that in the front of my mind right now.

I've no idea how this is going to affect my attendance over the next week or so. I'd just ask that everyone play everything by ear and if the majority is on and in the mood to progress or whatever, just ghost me being there and get me a log.