Christmas Gift

I hope that all of you reading this, had a merry Christmas. Don and I and the kids made it down to see my mom and spend Christmas day and night at her house. By the grace of God I was given the best Christmas gift I could have ever asked for, my Mom, my REAL Mom. The one I had when I was 7 or 8 years old. This year, my mom spent the day before Christmas baking pies from scratch and chocolate chip cookies and brownies. She hasn't done all of that since I was a little girl. Then yesterday, it was just a simple day, not fancy, but perfect! She watched the kids unwrap their gifts and Greysen watch the train go round and round. We had a nice dinner that she helped cook and played games with the kids and then we all sat down and watched A Christmas Story. She was happy, no fighting, just happy. We slept over and had to get up early to get to the city for work. She got up at 6:00am before us and I went down stairs (she was in the bathroom) I found 2 cups with tea bags next to them on the counter, plates set out and english muffins in the toaster ready to toast.   This may seem really simple or trivial, but it brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. This was a glimpse of the mom I had years ago that woke up with me in the morning and cooked me breakfast, that played board games with me, that sat on the couch with me at night and watched Nature. It was the best gift and I can only hope that God is gracious enough to allow me to experience it for a little bit longer.

As far as my mom's health goes, she had a Dr.'s appointment today with the Oncologist. He said that her Kidney function numbers have came down quite a bit since her last visit and are looking much better. She is going to begin getting a different type of chemo on Jan. 2nd, 3rd and 4th. This type of chemo is not supposed to effect her kidneys. She will get a CAT scan sometime after this round or the next tocheck things out. For now, based on how she looks and is feeling, the doctor believes it is doing its job. She is in great spirits, it is so bitter sweet to listen to her talk. She is fighting this cancer with her body, heart and most importantly her mind. She has such a positive attitude.  The Dr.'s are all suprised that she remains pain free. They asked her today if she was taking pain killers and she said, "No, I told you I am not in any pain." I thank God everyday for that.
It really has meant a lot to her to receive your phone calls and visits, she always mentions it with happiness in her voice. I am sure that it has a lot to do with her positive attitude, which is really helping her to get through this. She actually drove herself into Pine Bush twice this week to the store.  Please keep the phone calls and visits coming if you can.

Thanks again to all of you and Merry Christmas!!

Update

I haven't posted in a while because things were at a stand still for a while, waiting on bloodwork and Dr.'s appointments. My mom's kidney function #'s have slowly started to go down (the direction they wanted). She has gotten the green light from the kidney Dr. to start up some type of chemo (one that is not suppossed to affect her kidneys) under very close monitoring. She will see her oncologist this Monday and she will have a better idea of what and when Chemo will start. She has lost a lot of her hair (wearing a hat) and looking for the right wig. Her spirits are still good and she has been up and about around the house decorating for chirstmas and the tree. She got all of her shopping done through the help of friends and family and wrapped everything herself, so she could be prepared for the holidays if she is to start chemo prior. She is still using the oxygen and still not smoking. Her appetite is getting better, although the smells of food still bothers her a lot. She is still not in any pain, which I am so thankful for and I continue to pray that it stays at bay for as long as possible. She does mention every once and awhile "I know it's coming" meaning the pain. For now it is in the back of her mind and I am praying that we have time to spend with her during the Christmas break from school (if all of the kiddies can remain germ-free!)

I will put a post on here Monday evening after we hear what the oncologist has to say.

Got The Green Light

The doctor said that despite her kidney numbers not improving, they are sending her home to give it some time to see what happens. So she is going home today. She is excited to be breaking out of the hospital! She has an appointment scheduled with the kidney doctor on Tuesday to check her blood work and see how to proceed from there. She is feeling good, breathing is getting much better although she still is wearing the oxygen.  I requested for her to have a consultation with a dietician yesterday while we were down and she was able to get a book and some good information on what she needs as far as calories, protein etc. It is a little weird for her to be told to eat high calorie foods like icecream and cheesecake and pudding etc. after always trying to watch what she eats. I told her to throw caution to the wind and eat, eat, eat!!