Short and Sweet

Mom seems to be doing much better. She looked great today and had eaten actual food. The x-rays came back and everything is fine. We took in dinner, and she hopes to be released this week. Miles has been waking up very early every morning. He is going back to sleep in our bed, but that is not conducive to Jared's and my sleep. Today after nap he woke up with a runny nose. I started the humidifier before bed, but I've heard him cough a couple of times. I'm off to bed...goodnight!

14 weeks until December!

It is 14 weeks until December. Can you believe it? At the beginning of the month, a week and a half from now, the Holiday Grand Plan starts. I'm excited about this. I really hope to get a lot of work done around here this year. Also, I really need to throw some things out!

So, back to 14 weeks. I think it is totally reasonable to lose 20 pounds between now and then. I'd be thrilled if I could lose 20 pounds before December starts. Jared is beginning to get into working out. I've been working out a fair amount more than I had been. I'm trying to get to the rec center for the workout class as often as possible. I haven't been eating well, and that is why I'm not losing weight (I think). So, I'm going to do it. I'm going to lose 20 pounds by December. I'm going to weigh myself tonight, and start now. The 14 weeks actually starts next week, but what's a jump start going to hurt?

Monday I went to the work out class at the rec center. Today Miles and I went to Sara's for a fast walk over reasonably hilly territory. I need to continue that...activity every day and eating well. It is going to be hard with mom's stuff going on. I'm cooking and taking food to the hospital at least every other day, visiting the other days. I'm trying to cook and fill their freezer and I'll be working to keep reasonably healthy food on their table (and ours) when she's released. We have family birthdays and anniversaries coming up. All this will make it a little more difficult, but here we go!

About mom, she's doing ok. She was pretty sick all day yesterday with quite a bit of throwing up. They put her back on IV fluids. The doctor isn't too concerned, but sent her for x-rays to be sure that nothing is blocked. It isn't too unexpected. He had to do quite a bit of cutting when she was in surgery. He said the cancer was attached to everything. All the cutting means that it is a bit harder for her digestive system to get going again, but she's doing ok.

This was long and rambly, but I'm posting it anyway. I'll do better next time.

Another day in the hospital

Mom is still in the hospital. The doctor originally said that although the cancer was in her ovaries, it was not the "typical" ovarian cancer. As in, not going to spread like that, and apparently the "typical" ovarian cancer spreads quite rapidly. Today, however, dad said that they have partial results back from pathology and it is ovarian cancer. He also said that he thinks he got it all, but on Wednesday after the surgery he said that there is no way to tell if he got every cell.

Today I'm thankful for...schedules. Having a pretty good schedule means that my household keeps moving. I keep doing things, and getting tired and going to bed and getting up...every day. That being said...I'm tired. We had a nice breakfast this morning outside and ran Miles around some. After that, we took him to the park to run him around some more. Then we went to the hospital and took dad and Mamaw some food and visited mom. Then we let him play with a merry-go-round thing at the hospital. He fell asleep in the car on the way home. After nap there was more play and running. Then we all went on a walk, shower, bed for Miles, TV for Jared and I, and now...bed.

Day three

Mom was in a good deal of pain yesterday when we went to visit her in the ICU. Today she seemed much better. In fact, shortly after we arrived a nurse came in and was checking up on her. During the course she asked about pain level. Mom gave it a level 2. I'd say that's great. A day and a half after major surgery and the surgery results that she had to say that she isn't in much pain. Sure she has good pain drugs, but I know she tries not use them all that much.

Things I'm Thankful for Today...
1) Mom seems to be recovering well
2) My grandmother arrived in town today, and I've been able to spend a bit of time with her
3) Miles behaved much better today.


My dad asked about mom being released. The nurse wouldn't make a prediction, but did give a few things that they would look for before release. She also said that most of the signs that mom is showing are great and she is on her way!

Today is a little harder...

It's a little harder for me to come up with things I liked about today.
Yesterday, shortly after posting my last list I left for the hospital to sit with dad while mom was in surgery. I took Miles with me. My in-laws had offered to watch him, but the timing didn't work out right and I wanted them to sit him today. I was about a block away from the hospital when my dad called. He said that the doctor had called him in the waiting room to let him know that both ovaries were cancerous. I was able to sit with my dad until her surgery was over and the surgeon came out to talk to us. I don't care to go into details (too tired today). We know nothing yet of it it has spread or what kind of cancer it is, but the surgeon took lots of samples for pathology and even a few lymph nodes.

So, things I liked about today...
1) I got to go to the hospital to see my mom, and take dad out to dinner when he wasn't allowed in ICU.
2) Dad said that the surgeon told him that even though the cancer was in the ovaries, it is not the more aggressive type of ovarian cancer.
3) My in-laws are THE BEST!!!
A) They came over to sit with Miles (giving him dinner and putting him in bed),
B) they brought a meal for me to put in my parents freezer,
C) and they want to go to the hospital to visit tomorrow when they'll be in the area.
4) All this communication with my family is...uhh...good.
5) I got Miles out to the park this morning (it was a really bad morning before that) and he ran and ran. I'm thankful because he'll sleep well tonight (I hope).

The church that posted about this "Things I Liked About Today" list isn't my church. I don't live in or near the location of the church. I just thought the project was interesting and good timing for me to be mindfully grateful. The church's goal was to have people post every day until Sunday of this week. I'm going to try to do that.

Things I liked about today...

Today I've read two posts about being mindfully grateful. Keeping track of what God is doing in your life.

Today is particularly hard for me. My mom is in surgery right now having a hysterectomy, and I can't be at the hospital. I'll go up there later, but probably will not see her today. Her surgery was scheduled for 2, and pushed back almost 2 full hours. That was still after the none too easy morning I had with Miles, and the nap he almost screamed through. Today I really need to be grateful!

Which brings me to "Things I liked about today..."

1) Mom is having surgery today and we'll finally know for sure that it isn't cancer (I hope).

2) I kept busy this morning (as much as possible) and the house is reasonably clean.

3) Miles did end up napping (almost an hour and a half).

4) I don't have one for this, but with mom in surgery, I still came up with 3!

Vacations and Hysterectomys

This is my cat doing what I wish I was doing now, cat nap in a comfy spot.

The trip to CT was great and at this point seems long ago. We had a fantastic time visiting my sisters and their family. While we were there I helped my oldest sister shop for a suit for an interview. The interview was for a job that would take her to Tennessee. She still doesn't have word that she has the job, but it is looking pretty good. Also while we were there we got word that my mother may have cancer.

Miles playing peek-a-boo.

It was a strange deal. My father called my husband and gave him the briefest overview and told him to have my sister and I call when we returned home for the errand we were running together. We got back and ate lunch then Jared told us what my father had said. We had many questions, but didn't want to make my parents go through it more than once. We called my oldest sister and asked her to come over without telling her what was going on. Unfortunately she was busy and didn't think she'd be able to come over at all that day. We ended up giving her the very little information that we had at the time and she agreed to come as soon as she could. We went ahead and called my father back. He answered and sounded fine (normal for him, nothing shakes him). He said that mom was fine. She'd received the diagnosis on Friday when she was in for a physical (this was Sunday). He didn't really know much, and suggested we call mom. We asked if they were not together. Oh no, he assured us, they were home. He was downstairs and she was upstairs. You know how it is. I do? I sure hope if I ever receive that terrible diagnosis that Jared would not allow me to tell my parents or children without him being there to support me!

Doris and I made Blackberry Preserves and Blueberry Jam as well as some pie filling.

We called my mother, and she'd been crying. She didn't say as much, but we knew. She said that she'd had some spotting and she was post menopause. That was all that it took for the doctor to tell her that she may have cancer. They had done blood tests and scheduled a sonogram and a next appointment to go through the results. That was all that she knew at the time.

The three cousins playing nicely.

Well as you could guess, that didn't much help the vacation. There were no further doctor's appointments scheduled for while we were out of town. There was nothing anyone could do at that point, so we stayed.

At the zoo.

Since returning home, mom has had the sonogram. Results inconclusive. The day they had her scheduled for the results appointment they instead had her go in for a CT Scan. That was a Friday (7/24) and the results appointment was that Monday (7/27). The results were better than I was prepared to receive. After waiting at the doctor's office for 2 hours she said it appeared it may not be cancer! I've since read that only about 20% of post menopausal bleeding is due to cancer and I wonder if they said that it may be cancer to spur her into action. They did, however, see that she had a cyst on each ovary and she'd probably need to have a hysterectomy.

Man, I look fat here. Another pic from the zoo.

An appointment was scheduled for a gynecological oncologist for this past Monday (8/3). He does want to do the hysterectomy, it is scheduled for Wednesday (8/12). It took a bit the scheule because they needed a urinary specialist to be on call during the surgery incase they needed to place a temporary stint due to some problem they had seen with the urinary tract. They are planning to take the cycts, and immediatly freeze them and send them to a pathologist. The pathologist will then look at them under a microscope to determine if possible what they are (cancer or not). If there is anythin suspicious with them he will then call the surgeon (still in surgery with my mother) and tell him to take many more samples to be sure that there are no other cancers. The hysterectomy will then be performed and hopefully all will be well!

The two littles at the zoo.

We are just trying to make it from day to day until next Wednesday. I'm hoping to be able to put away several meals for them between now and when she gets out of the hospital five days after surgery. I'm also helping to get her ready for the hospital stay and she's asked for a bit of help with housework type things.

My parents dog feeling the wind in her ears.

I don't think I'll be able to go to the hospital for the surgery. It begins at 2, and the afternoon is not always a great time for Miles. Although my in laws will be happy to watch him, I feel that I'll be leaning on them enough for that in the near future. Right now I'm thinking that if dad goes to work in the morning, I'll go over and help mom get ready and take her to the hospital to check in and meet with dad there. Then Miles and I will hea home for lunch and nap and afternoon activities. Then Jared and I may ask his parents to come over for dinner and bed time with Miles so that we can take my dad out to dinner and back to the hospital. Then we can stay with him for a while and hopefully see mom when she gets out of recovery. I understand a normal hysterectomy is about 5 hours. That puts her in or getting out of recovery at 7. We'll see how things go. I'm tired just thinking/writing this much about it. If you are still reading, please pray for my family. It is a hard time, but I know we will make it though!

My grandmother, Miles, and my parents dog Heidi at my grandmother's house.