March 2023, when mom was 77 years old, she moved into a city that was foreign to her. Prior to her move, she lived independently, involved in church activities, and loved window shopping in Manhattan.

Although it was her decision to move closer to her children, the whole thing was initiated by one of my siblings without a family discussion. It caused many frustration and annoyance. Mom has been healthy most of her life, but then suddenly she started having inflammation in her teeth, UTIs, constant high blood pressure, and most of all, it became unpleasant to spend time with her.

October 2024, I got a call from LEE about mom while I was in line for an early in-person voting for the 2024 Presidential election. LEE admitted mom to ER later on that day. A few tests have been run over a few days. Mom eventually got discharged with two kidney urine catheters (nephrostomy tubes) soon followed by more doctors’ appointments along with Cystoscopy, Laparoscopic, and PET Scans.

Mom developed a bladder cancer due to her mistreated UTIs that also damaged her kidneys. Removing tumors was not in option because tumors were already invaded muscles and spread to lymph nodes in her bladder area. She opted out of removing whole bladder, no chemo, no radiations. Her life expectancy would be about 3 years living with nephrostomy tubes until she passes away.

I started reminiscing about my childhood, good laughs, unpleasant experience, lessons in life, and days ahead. It has been the long drip of blessings!

GOOD News!! Mom is scheduled to remove her urinary catheters on 10/7/2025 that are attached on the kidneys through back of her skin (nephrostomy tube).
Mom has been drinking the five elements miracle soup/broth created by Dr. Tateishi Kazu to fight against cancer for the past 10 months along with periodic Keytruda immunotherapy shots; and most importantly her prayer was answered.

Both of the left and right urinary catheters are removed, and CAT Scan is scheduled on 10/20/2025 to check cancer tumor size. She was informed that one of her kidneys is not draining properly.

Starting 1/12/2026, mom started getting combo of the Padcev chemo and Keytruda immunotherapy bladder cancer shots because her tumors did not shrink.

I took mom out for her birthday lunch and foot massage in mid-January; she shared that she is praying she could die without much pain and suffering.

Early in March 2026, mom let me know her bladder cancer tumor shrank per CT scan.

I hesitated to pick up the phone when I saw mom’s phone number on 3/31/2026. She needed someone to take her to see a Gastro doctor due to her loose stool. Moon had to make an appointment. Mom collected her stool sample per Dr Stephen Goodman’s instruction, and we dropped it off at local UPS. Dr Goodman thinks it might be due to combo shots from Padcev and Keytruda. The results came as normal.