Moms Stint Replacement & an Unexpected Hospital Stay

 This past Tuesday evening Mom and I headed to Birmingham to stay the night because we had to be at the hospital Wednesday morning at 5:30 for her 5th stint replacement.  Dad & Yana kept the kids for me so I could go with her.

In the waiting room.

Before they took her back.

 On the way up Tuesday we ate at Chipotle.....

 .... and had a GiGi's cupcake for dessert :)! It was SO good.  We got the Pumpkin Spice Latte.

 We decided it would be a nice treat to stop by GiGi's on the way home to get her co-workers a cupcake and I got the kids' teachers one as well. 

Aren't they beautiful?

 We got home Wednesday a little before 3 and before I could even get the kids, I had to get one of my tires fixed. 

 I got the kids and we weren't home long before time to go to church.  On our way home from church I called to talk to Mom & Tyler to see how she was doing.  At that moment she was hurting, but we all just thought it was her usual pain.  

Thursday morning she said she wasn't feeling well and was going to go in to work later.  Unfortunately, she has had to go in to work late before because of not feeling well, so I didn't think a whole lot about it and I kept my plan to go to Dothan to visit a friend that had a baby.  On my ride home I had tried to get up with Mom and was unsuccessful.  She finally called me and the pain in her voice was one I had heard before.  

She was crying, out of breath, I could tell she was in a lot of pain.  She was being her normal stubborn self and not wanting to go to the doctor because she thought it would get better.  It was the pain that she had felt before when she had her first bowel obstruction back in November.  The only way to tell a bowel obstruction is to do a CT scan.  

I was an emotional stressed mess because I was out of town and this was going on with her.  Thankfully I knew my Aunt Becky was off work so I called her to see if she could go get Mom and take her to the Dothan ER.  Before she could get there Mom had called me back and was throwing up.  

I LOST IT! 

I think just the reality of how bad her cancer is and all that we witness it doing to her body and me just being alone all sank in at once.  Kyle's not home, Mom is very sick, and the kids are in school.  I was back and forth on the phone with doctors, nurses, Aunt Becky, etc.  The weight just got really heavy and I could no longer control my emotions.

I am beyond thankful that our family is so very close.  Mom has amazing family and friends that all jump right in to help anyway they can.  Aunt Becky got her to Dothan and they did find that she had a Bowel Obstruction.  A bowel obstruction is unfortunately common with ovarian cancer.

After lots of medicine, she was feeling better by that night and we were able to facetime with her:

 Tyler went up after work Thursday and spent the night so Aunt Becky could come home.  He sent me this snap Friday morning:

 My Aunt Becky went back to the hospital Friday morning so that Tyler could leave and go to work.

She later sent this.....

 Friday at school was Heidi's 4th grade Pioneer Day that I had already volunteered to help at.  Heidi really wanted me to still help and Mom did as well, so I did.  I felt like an emotional ticking time bomb where at any second someone could have poked me and I would have lost it.  I managed to hold it together all day even through the numerous phone calls.  I had to step aside 4-5 time to take calls from Dr Huh (her oncology dr in Birmingham), nurses, my Aunt in Dothan, etc.  Pioneer Day went great and I am thankful I didn't miss it.

After school the kids and I headed to see Babee :).  She loves those babies and they are what really makes her want to keep pushing.

She finds a smile through her pain.  Heidi put this snap on Moms "My Story".

 The kids and I left Friday evening and my Aunt Donna stayed the night with her.  Yesterday morning Kyle's Mom got the kids and I headed back.  She kept them all day and night and I'll get them today :)!  They have been having so much fun.  

Mom had a few visitors yesterday.  One of them being my favorite little Messer boy :)....

 After lunch we chilled in her room and watched the Alabama game.

 She started feeling better as the day went on.  They started her out yesterday morning by clamping her nose tube (that connected to her stomach) and giving her liquids to see if she could tolerate it.  Thankfully she did well with her breakfast, lunch, and dinner trays.  Last night while Tyler was here visiting they took the tube out.  It had gotten a lot of yucky mess out of her stomach and she was very relieved to have it out.  {I can't imagine how having that tube put in and taken out must feel..... }.

Last night she decided she wanted to get out and walk a bit so we went down stairs and sat a little while.

And so far today she is doing amazing.  The doctor came by this morning and said that he thought she should be good to go home.  She needs to stay on a liquid diet for a few days, then work to a soft food diet, before eating "solid" foods.  So now we are waiting for the doctor that admitted her to come by to see her and discharge us.  

PRAISE THE LORD!

It is just really tough to see someone you love go through this day in and day out and watch the sacrifices that "cancer patients" have to make just to survive.