Looking for miracles

Today I spent a frustrating morning listening to my mom tell the hospice nurse that she didn't have cancer. She's feeling better, eating better and all her sores have healed up. She says maybe she caught some sort of infectious bug on her travels with Dad.

 She doesn't ever remember getting a cancer diagnosis. She thinks that maybe the clinic in Phoenix cured her even though they said they couldn't get it all. She said to the nurse, "I saw people walk out of that clinic and they were cancer-free. Maybe I am too?"

 It is, honestly, heart-breaking to hear her talk like this. She's hoping for a miracle...everyone does, right? Isn't denial the first stage of grief? Three and a half months into this saga (which actually started 27 years ago) and we're still right at the beginning. Either she's a fighter or she's stuck.

 I dont know how this whole thing will end but I hope she gets her miracle....not sure how she'd handle anything else.