time flies

I can't believe how quickly Christmas came and went this year. Its almost 2010 and it seems like only the other day that I was blogging about 2008.   Since I last wrote....   On Monday Dec. 6th, Mom got a call from her doctor. He had the pathology results of her D&C. It wasn't what we wanted to hear...malignancy.   So, he scheduled her surgery for that Friday, Dec. 11th. Mom was admitted on Thursday morning. That was the last time she had food or water for 5 days! They took her in for the surgery at around 8:15 on Friday morning. Dad and I were there along with Pastor Jim. He said a prayer for her and we kissed her goodbye. We spent the next few hours talking in Mom's hospital room on the 3rd floor.   They called for us to come down to the 2nd floor at around 1:30. After a few more minutes of waiting, Dr. Schiano came out to talk to us. Dad, Pastor Jim, and my aunt Jo were there with me. Dr. Schiano said that they removed a very large malignant tumor from Mom's ovary. She had a complete hysterectomy. They also took her appendix and her omentum. Dr. Schiano said that they cut open her uterus and found a small amount of cancerous tissue there too. Then he mentioned something strange...at least it was to me.... He said that he believed Mom had 2 simultaneously occuring malignancies. He thought that she had developed uterine cancer AND ovarian cancer at the same time! This meant that it could be possible for Mom to be in Stage 1 of both cancers.   On Friday, after they brought Mom back from the recovery room she was soooo thirsty. It was really tough not to give her some water. We could only swab out her mouth every once in awhile. Why could she not have water? Well the problem is this; when they manipulate your intestines (and they looked at every inch of hers) they go into "shock" and won't work. So if she ate something, even an ice cube, she would have thrown up. Not exactly something that you want to do with 200 staples in your stomach and an NG tube down your nose!   When she got back to her "step-down" room, she had an oxygen/heartrate monitor, a port in her chest, an epidural, a drainage tube, an NG tube and a urinary cathiter. She rested the first night.   While she was laying there, I started talking to Dad. My heart started pounding and I knew I was supposed to talk to him about salvation. So, I said, "Dad, you believe what the Bible says is true, right?" and he said yes. This led to a short conversation....that ended up with me praying with him!! I looked up and Mom's heartrate had rose 20 beats per minute and she said, "I want to shout, but I can't!" She had Dad call Pastor Jim to tell him. Praise God! God works all things to good for them that love Him!   The next morning when Dad and I got to the hospital, Mom was sitting up in a rocking chair in her room! She looked pretty bad and I could tell that she was in a lot of pain. She got up and walked 4 times that day! The next day she walked down the whole hallway 4 times! They don't let you lay around after a surgery anymore. After a few days Mom started to look better and feel better. By Tuesday she was planning shopping trips! haha... Then they took the epidural out. She didn't realize how much that thing was helping! So, her pain was pretty bad after that, but she finally got to eat and then the next day, Thursday, they let her come home!                                                                                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last Monday, Mom had an appointment to remove half of her staples on her incision. She asked them how many staples they used and they said, "too many to count!" Her incision looks around 2 feet long! Its huge! Her tumor was around the size of a football, maybe bigger.   Mom has been doing really well now. She says that she feels a little better every day. Tomorrow she has another appointment to remove the remaining staples, and we are fairly certain that Dr. Schiano will be telling us the results of her pathology. We imagine that he will know more about her plan of treatment as well. He already told us that Mom will have to undergo chemotherapy. We are dreading this, but we are willing to do anything he feels that she should do. I will post more after I know it tomorrow.   It is amazing to me the amount of peace that I have had throughout this entire ordeal. I praise God for peace that passes all understanding. I have really felt God's presence. He keeps sending me messages that I'm not alone and that He is wirth me. The one scripture that I keep hearing over and over is Isaiah 43:1-2 Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you."   It makes me think of the Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were thrown into the fire but were not burned....and the Angel of the Lord was with them!! The Christmas season also reminds me that Jesus is with me. Emmanuel means God With Us! Jesse and I went to church at Faith Christian Fellowship with my Mom and Dad this morning. I haven't been to church there in YEARS. There was a visiting minister there, Mike Manuel. At the end of his message, he began walking around the church, giving words of knowledge. He walked up to ME! (scary! haha) I cant remember his exact words, but he basically told me to have PEACE during my storm. He said that Jesus spoke and said "Peace, be still" I have to admit, it was a very amazing experience. God has always been so good to me!