CANCER....Come and GONE!!!

The past few weeks have unveiled a myriad of emotions. The day before the girls’ baptism, mom called and informed us that she had been diagnosed with uterine cancer. With the history that we have had with cancer with my dad, this was devastating news. Her doctor advised her that she needed to have a complete hysterectomy ASAP. She was scheduled for February 8th, my favorite day. As we prepared for her surgery, it became apparent that this was going to be a long road to recovery. I took her to her oncologist appointment, and I was the one who left in tears. It was so hard to listen to the doctor discuss side effects, complications of surgery, and complications of the cancer itself. As we stopped at the pharmacy to get her pre-surgery clean out your colon cocktail, I was a complete blubbering mess. I guess I just feared losing her too. Chris and his brother Kelly gave her a blessing late on the night before her surgery. I was comforted by the blessing, and as mom was being wheeled into surgery, she told me that she felt a lot calmer after the blessing too. She had to be at the hospital at 6:00 AM. Emily and I stayed at her house and took her to St. Marks in the morning. Dave met us there. They quickly had her change into her gown and came in to get all of her vital signs. They explained to us what would happen, and in no time, they wheeled her upstairs to begin her surgery. I waited with her while the anesthesiologist talked with her. About 7:40 they rolled her away. I went out to the lobby to wait with Dave and Emily. We waited and waited, and waited. About 10:40 the doctor came out to meet with us. He said she was doing really well. He said the surgery was complicated, but she did well. They had to give her 1 unit of blood, but we would be able to see her around noon. Relieved that she was okay, we decided to head down to the cafeteria for some lunch. Around need they wheeled her by. It was hard to see her lying in a hospital bed all hooked up to machines. Every time I went into her room I came out in tears. That first night I agreed to stay with her. It was a long night. She needed 2 blood transfusions, and her hand, where they were giving the blood was hurting and began to swell. Emily came to stay with her around 10:00 AM and I went home to sleep. We spent the next 6 days with her at the hospital. She was so humbled by the number of people who came to the hospital or called to send her their love. I truly believe that many prayers have been answered. The best news came to us on the Saturday night after her surgery. The Dr. had taken out all of her “female” organs, and her lymph nodes. The pathologist had reported that she is cancer FREE now! I am so glad that this has such a different conclusion than that of my Dad. I so miss him dearly and could not even imaging losing my mom too. Emily and David have been doing a great job as nurses caring for her. I will take my turn this week as I was away on business last week. Thank you for all of your help, prayers, and support. Mom is continuing to recover and is anxiously awaiting her Dr. clearance to reschedule her cruise!