Thoughts on Thursday: Cancer

I’ve waited to post about this because I wanted good news to post. It has been a long 5 weeks,  but finally, we have some good news and some closure.

At the end of February, my mom found out she had endometrial cancer. After having a biopsy and waiting 2 long weeks for the results, they told her she had a grade one tumor. There are three grades, grade one being the least bad of all. This was the hope we were hanging on to. One symptom sent her to the doctor for a check-up. Had she ignored that one symptom, she would have never known she had a tumor almost 4 inches in size. A normal annual check-up would not have found this type of cancer. To me, this is TERRIFYING.

A week after her diagnosis, she met with an oncologist who scheduled surgery for her just two weeks later. This was all moving very fast. My Aunt Darlene in California (one of many fabulous relatives!!) offered to come out to be here the week of her surgery and we could not have been more happy for the extra support. Throughout all of this, we had so many people supporting my mom from all over, it was very heart-warming, and if more family had been able to come, we know they would have.

Two weeks ago yesterday, my mom went in for surgery. Her first surgery ever in her 61 years. They were able to do it laparoscopically, with 5 small incisions. The plan was to remove lymph nodes only if they felt it necessary at that time. She did extremely well during the surgery. The surgeon explained that they also removed some lymph nodes to have them tested and it would be two weeks to find out if it had spread or not.

She has spent the last two weeks recovering amazingly well. She did not overdo anything, she napped when she needed to, took her pain pills sparingly and only if absolutely needed, and she endured the once-a-day shots from both my aunt and I in her belly to prevent blood clots.

By the end of the last week, just over a week post-surgery, she was back to walking in the afternoons, 1 to 2 miles. Everyone has been so impressed with how fast she has recovered.

Finally, yesterday was her post-op appointment with the surgeon, to find out if the cancer had spread or not. Of all days to wait for this news, it was also my dad’s birthday. We visited the cemetery at Bay Pines VA in the morning, worked for a few hours, and then finally it was time for her appointment. I, of course, was right by her side because there is no other place in the world I could have been at that moment.

The doctor, a very direct man, walked in the room with a smile on his face and said “I have some good news for you. Your lymph nodes came back clear and you do NOT need any further treatment.”  Both my mom and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Her cancer was stage 1, with a tumor approximately 4 inches in size. The doctor, like everyone else, was extremely impressed by her recovery. She will go back in 4 weeks for another follow-up.

Cancer affects everyone. My dad had bladder cancer, my grandmother had breast cancer, my aunt had breast cancer, and now my mom has had endometrial cancer. It’s very easy to sit here and tell everyone to be proactive and do not ignore any little symptom that you feel isn’t right. Some cancers are genetic and some are not. Regardless, it can happen to everyone. I spent many months last year with my sister-in-law over the course of her training for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day and I heard first hand stories of how cancer had affected so many lives. None of us are immune to it. We have to be proactive.

I am so relieved and  thankful that my mom is well. After losing my dad 16 months ago, the thought of something happening to my mom was terrifying. I kept strong throughout the last 5 weeks, both for my mom and my family, but I am not afraid to admit now that I was scared. Hearing the good news yesterday was the best thing and it made my day. I now know more than ever that my dad is indeed watching over us and I am positive he had a little something with yesterday’s good news.

I love you, Mommy and I am so glad you did not ignore what you knew was not right, and you did what you had to do to be well. You are stronger than you know and you are cancer-free!!

True Confessions Tuesday

It’s True Confessions Tuesday AGAIN. Ugh. Here goes, this one will be a doozy.

• I CONFESS that I skipped last week’s True Confessions Tuesday but it wasn’t totally intentional. Last week was Crazy, with a capital C.

• I CONFESS that I did not go to WW last Thursday to weigh-in. It was the day after my mom’s surgery and I was at the hospital with her that morning. If I’m being honest, I will also add that I know I would have absolutely had a gain had I gone. Craziness (again with the capital C), a huge homemade family meal that Monday night, a day of eating whatever while my mom was in surgery and getting settled in the hospital for an overnight stay, etc…. I could go on and on, and on some more.

• I CONFESS that if my Aunt Darlene had not been here with us last week, I’m not sure how I would have handled everything on my plate. Just knowing my mom had Darlene to care for her and keep her company allowed me to do what I need to do for our business, among everything else. I am very thankful for my Aunt Darlene.

• I CONFESS I have not run in over a week now. Not to sound like a broken record, but Crazy with a capital C is my excuse on that too. How was I supposed to fit one in? When Friday evening rolled around, I was exhausted. I momentarily thought about squeezing in a run on Saturday morning before my other plans for the day,  but I was just worn out, beat down, and too tired to do it. I was afraid that if I ran when I was that wiped out, I would have hurt myself or would have had the worst run ever. Nothing pisses me off more than being set up to fail, whether I do it to myself or it’s done by others. So, I opted for a total random moment of weakness and used that hour of time to have a pedicure. I do not feel guilty about that at all. My tootsies were in desparate need.

• I CONFESS that when I went to the movies with my SIL Jenna on Sunday morning, I had popcorn with butter AND Nestle Bunch A Crunch. It’s my movie-going weakness. I have to have it. Thankfully I don’t go to the movies often so I can justify it as an every-once-in-awhile splurge.

• I CONFESS that sometimes we are faced with incredibly hard decisions that honestly seem like too much.

• I CONFESS that I enjoyed both beer and wine last week. The wine came from Trader Joe’s in California. YUM. The beer, well, it came from Publix up the street, but I really do enjoy ice cold beer.

• I CONFESS that knowing I wasn’t going to go weigh-in at WW last Thursday gave me too much wiggle room. In my mind I thought, I know I’m not going, so I can have this or that. Be very glad you don’t live in my world, it’s not a nice place to be.

• I CONFESS that I if I had the ability to do so, I could literally sleep for a week. I am that tired.

• I CONFESS that my house is a mess and I would probably need a full week to get it clean. There is major dusting to be done, carpets to clean, bathrooms to clean, kitchen floors to clean, and more.

• I CONFESS that I am less than thrilled about a doctor’s appointment I have tomorrow.

• I CONFESS that without my SIL Jenna’s help, my blog would not be headed towards the super cool look that I hope to have finished sooner than later. She was a big help on Sunday and has offered to help me some more. I will more than likely take her up on it.

Do you have any confessions for this Tuesday? Now’s the time to ‘fess up!

Happiness is…. Sweet Autumn

The past couple days, we have had the pleasure of having Autumn stay over with us while her mom and dad are in Sarasota for their anniversary. She came over Sunday morning and she’ll go home today. She is so comfortable in our house and while she does miss Mommy and Daddy, she has fun while she is with us.

On Monday, we went to Grandmommy’s house for a 4th of July cookout. That evening we went to Crystal Beach for sunset and fireworks. There were a few dogs there, she made the rounds to pet them. She LOVES dogs! She loves to play in the water and run through the sand. We saw some of the fireworks and she loved them, too – especially the pink ones.

At the beach!

Doggy!

Yesterday I didn’t take her to school, I kept her with me. I worked for a bit and then Grandmommy and I took her to Dunedin Sprayground. She had TOO much fun there. It was a hot day so it was the perfect outdoor activity for her. She met a boy who was probably 9(??) and they laughed and played and had fun. It was adorable watching him keep an eye out for her and go down the slide together. He tried to get her to go down on her tummy and every time she said she would but never did. There was a lot of laughing and giggling. When we were leaving, she saw him running around the sprayground and she said “that’s my boy!”.  She also said that he’s going to be her boyfriend.

Autumn and her boy

Last night we watched Barbie movies. Mike had to run out for a bit and she kept asking if he was going to come back. When he did get back, she sat next to him and watched the end of her movie with him. So sweet…

Watching Swan Lake with Uncle Mike

My favorite times would have to be in the mornings when she first wakes up. She comes out of the room with the cutest smile on her face and just talks and talks. She loves to help with Scarlett and Blue and Ozzie. She is quite the little helper.

Breakfast smiles

I adore Autumn and I am so glad she has so much fun when she is with us. And I am so thankful that Nick and Jenna are so comfortable leaving her with us. It makes me feel really good.