MOM

Happy Mothers Day!
I know there are some wonderful moms that read my blog and you all are doing a fantastic job. Keep loving those babies and training them in the Lord. I am thankful to be a mom and love the opportunity to raise these precious gifts from God.

Many, many posts ago, I made mention of my mom and "her story". I told you I would tell you more about it later. Later has come. This photo of me and my mom was taken at Thanksgiving in 2005. All of my siblings and their families came to our house and we celebrated Thanksgiving together. My mom's birthday is in early November so we decided to celebrate mom's birthday while we were all together. It was her 60th! We chose to honor her with the verse Proverbs 31:10 "She is worth far more than rubies". We presented her with a ruby bracelet, all of the grandchildren sang Amazing Grace and we put together a slideshow. It was a very special celebration. Not only because it was her 60th and that she is the most amazing mother and Nana but because of what was to come.

This photo is of my parents and their 21 (at the time) grandchildren. We took family photos during the Tday weekend.

5 months later on May 3rd, my mom was diagnosed with cancer - ovarian. Now, for those of you who have lost loved ones, or cared for, or caring for a loved one who has cancer, you know it is a difficult time. More than anything, I hated watching my sweet mom suffer.

My parents decided to try a more non-traditional route in fighting this cancer so she did treatments of another kind instead of chemo. On Mother's Day of 2006, we celebrated Mother's day with her and we all prayed for her healing. The next day she headed 4 hours south where she would begin her alternative treatments. Things seemed to be working and we were thrilled.

At the end of the summer, my mom was skin and bones. Her belly was filled with fluid and bigger than mine ( I was six or so months pregnant). Her legs were swollen with fluid and she was very uncomfortable. We took her to a Dr. and had her belly drained - 6 liters!! What relief. She had it done a few more times and we realized the tumor was getting bigger and her only option was surgery. They did 3 rounds of chemo to shrink the tumors and surgery was scheduled for January.

Tess was due in December and my prayer was that she would be there for her birth. Brian and I asked her if she would "catch" the baby. She was honored and did a fabulous job - even in her weak state. We named our baby girl Tessa Enid (Enid is my mom's name). A week later she had surgery and they successfully removed all the "dead" tumors. Praise the Lord!!

In March, she took a turn for the worse. She had a checkup and the Dr. thought she had pneumonia. He suggested she check herself in. She did and before we knew it she was in ICU hooked up to every machine imaginable. What is happening?! She was fine yesterday and now she can't do anything. Her attending Dr. said that the cancer came back. It is in her colon. Her colon has ruptured. She is septic. We can't do anything for her. Take her home and let her die. "WHAT!!!! Not my mom. Not now. No Way!!" All I could do was fall to my knees and pray. And Cry. And cry! All of my siblings and their spouses came immediately. We just hugged and cried. What great support we all gave each other through this very sad and difficult time.

So, on Monday, my dad set up hospice care and we took mom home.

This is my mom in her front living room. She had a view out of the front windows and a view of her grand piano. Which, by the way, she is a fabulous piano player. Flowers came pouring in. Friends stopped by continuously to say their good byes. The phone rang off the hook. She talked to all of her grandchildren on the phone and each one told her how much they loved her and the things they appreciated about her. Mom helped pick out the clothes she wanted the grandchildren to wear at her "Celebration of Life" service (memorial service). She and dad discussed details of where she wanted to be buried and what she wanted done at the memorial service. She couldn't eat or drink so it was just a matter of days before she would go be with Jesus. "Be with Jesus" - what a comfort to know that she would be in His glory.
Meanwhile, my dad and brother Grant, are on the phone to every dr. they know trying to get someone to look at her again. Read her charts. Do something. She just can't be dying. On Wednesday, dad took her off hospice care and called 911. They took her to another Dr. He looked at her and her charts. He agreed with the first Dr. Take her home and let her die. Got her back on hospice care. My dad and Grant would not give up. Finally, my dad got a break and was told by a Dr. friend to go to a certain hospital and ask for a certain surgeon. So, on Friday, once again, dad took her off hospice and dialed 911. She was rushed to the hospital. The surgeon actually read mom's charts, thumped her on the belly and asked, "Did that hurt?". She said "no". He said, "You are not septic. I am sorry for what your family has been put through. We are going to fix you." Are you kidding? She is not going to die?!! Can this really be happening?
He wanted to get her strength back before doing surgery. She needed immediate hydration and nutrition. Her belly was drained. She was comfortable and building strength. Then came an 11 hour surgery. It turned out the cancer was not back. She had an infection from her surgery in January. The previous surgeon had nicked her colon in several places and her body was fighting to heal itself. This great dr. cleaned it all up. He said it was a mess in there!!!
She was in the hospital just short of 8 weeks. She went home right before Mother's Day (2007 ~ a year later). Guess what we did. Yep, we had the Mother of all Mother's celebration for Mother's Day. All of my siblings and their families came. We loved on Mom/Nana all weekend. We are all so thankful to God that mom is alive and well. Let me just say, she was ok with dying. She was ready to be with Jesus and knew she would have eternal life but in her heart she wanted to watch her grandchildren grow and be a part of their lives. She also did not want to leave my Dad. We also were at peace - not happy about it but at peace with Mom dying. Anyways, do you remember we had ordered the children's clothing for her funeral. Well, instead of wearing them to a funeral that no longer existed, we wore them on Mother's Day. We scheduled a photographer and we took one big huge family pic with 26 granchildren ranging from 16 yrs old to 2 weeks old. What a fun weekend and one to remember forever. God is sooo good.

I love you, Mom!

Thank you, God, for allowing us all to be a part of nothing short of a miracle. We love You!