Coming Home...... New Year....

 Words cannot express how thankful I am for my best friend and mother in law.  Most of the time our hospital stays fall to where people have to take off work to keep the kids, or usually Amanda gets them from school & then takes them to Cindy when she gets off.  We have a system that seems to work, but I still feel so guilty with being away from them and hearing them tell me how much they miss me or want me home.  It makes it hard.  BUT the way it fell this time, Cindy only took off 1/2 a day (they closed at lunch on Thursday) & she was off Friday.  She told me to take enough clothes to stay until Sunday that the kids would be fine.  She kept pictures coming and I felt so relaxed knowing that they were having fun and well taken care of.  Amanda went over almost everyday to see them & to help.  

Thursday night they had a really fun time having their cousins over to spend the night.  I really think that did them good & got their mind off of where I was for a bit.  MeMe let them play and have a good time and then when it was time to clean up, it was time to clean up. 

Here is the NYE video she sent me...... it was a wonderful video to wake up to on Jan 1.

New Year's Day they had breakfast, played, and then had a "fun" cleaning up game they played.

 She sent me before and after pictures of all the rooms.  I loved how they all worked together.

 On Saturday they loaded up and did a little shopping and then went to Chuck-E-Cheese.

 On Sunday they were so excited about us coming home.  I think the day drug by for them. 

 Amanda and Cindy took them to see the horses, they went to the school to finish a sign, went to Moms to hang it, got balloons, cleaned the house (like even scrubbed the bathrooms), had soup in the crock pot when we got home, etc.....

 It was so nice to come home and kind of go "ahhhhh".... and not see everything that I needed to do.  You know how when you leave for a vacation you clean the house before you leave so that when you come home you can relax and not have a mess to come home to?  That's what it felt like.  They truly are wonderful!  Last Christmas the two of them even decorated our house for Christmas. 

Thought I would share this picture of Mom...... I know she is in a hospital gown, but so what.  My cousin, Abby, had texted me checking on her and then she said.... "Here.... take a picture and send to Abby & Jamie"..... I thought it was beautiful......

 This was her on her way to get her PEG tube.  She was really nervous......

This is how we all spent January 1, 2016.

 And then Sunday we got the great news that we could leave.  We were all exhausted by this point. 

 This silly group sent this to us while they were running around getting Babee's surprise ready....

 Babee showing them the tube.....

Amanda's snap :)! 

 I LOVEDDDD that they had pictures of them making Moms "surprise" sign.....

 ..... AND...... TA......DA......

How sweet is that?  Soooo thoughtful.  Amanda and Cindy are completely selfless people.  Always putting others first.  They had 3 sets of balloons with three balloons in each bundle of our favorite colors.  

Tyler recorded this video of Mom to send to us when she saw the sign....

And usually we don't all 4 sleep in my bed, but I really wanted my little ducklings under my wing. 

You would think we would all be used to hospital stays.  I really can't count how many we had in 2015.  But each time it is so upsetting because we are there because Mom is in so much pain from this stinking cancer.  In less than a month it will be 2 years that we started this journey.  

No one has given up yet!

Spending New Years at UAB

 It seems that my blog posts lately are mostly about hospital stays or cancer.  We never expected to spend the last days of 2015 and the first days of 2016 in the hospital.

  Some details we just want to keep private, but I'll give you a short version.

Mom, Heidi, and Tyler LOVES Dancing With the Stars.  As part of our Christmas, she gave us tickets to watch the DWTS tour in Birmingham.  It just so happened that we watched the show Tuesday night and then her stint replacement was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Her stomach starting hurting really bad Tuesday morning.  It had been hurting on and off and began to get really bad.  She made herself go to the show.  That is something we are all so grateful for.  She was in so much pain that she couldn't even go in to eat with me, Tyler, and Heidi before the show.  Makes me so mad with cancer.  

She made it in to the BJCC while holding her stomach the entire way.  

Even through the pain she will find a smile.

Wednesday morning she and I got up and headed to the hospital for her stint replacement.  We left Tyler and Heidi snoozing in the hotel :). 

She was hurting so bad.

See how swollen her stomach is?  It always gets like that with the obstructions.

 After her surgery we headed to the oncology department.  After numerous obstructions, we all know that when she is having one it is better to just go ahead and see the doctor. 

 We met with Dr. Huh and he told us that he was going to admit her and that he would most likely have to do a major surgery on her colon.  He didn't want to do the surgery, but he thought that would be the only option at this point and most doctors would have already done the surgery.  It wasn't what we wanted to hear, but at the same time we knew it was coming.  

We waited in his office until they had her hospital room ready.

While waiting, I got cute snaps from sweet Aubrey.  She was helping MeMe watch the kids.  

 We got admitted and then was trying to figure out what to do as far as staying, Kyle being at work... getting my kids situated, etc. 

 We decided to go home Wednesday night.  None of us had extra clothes and Heidi really didn't need to stay the night in the hospital. 

She got her a good hug from sweet Heidi before we left.  A picture says a thousand words.

 We got home Wednesday night about 9:40.  I was so glad to see Kman and Sophie.  She was already asleep, but I still got some sugars and got to snuggle with Kman.  I am so thankful we have a king size bed.  I piled those kiddos up in my bed and just enjoyed the moment.  I got minimal sleep, but I had all my ducklings under my wing. Tyler went home and packed bags for he and Mom and then he went back to UAB that night.

I was planning on coming back yesterday after lunch when Cindy got off work.  It was a VERY yucky day, but despite the weather I had friends come over and bring a basket full of snacks, candy, drinks, gift card to Starbucks, and cards for me to bring back to the hospital for everyone to enjoy.  Kayla came and brought breakfast to the kids and then Amanda came over and she drove me all around town in the nasty weather to do several errands for Mom.  It was a VERY emotionally draining morning.

I had just got out of the shower when Mom called me.  In a nut shell (as I said I will leave out some of the more private details) Dr Huh came in and told her that he had thought about the surgery all night and he really did not want to do it.  He has done it multiple times and the recovery process is lengthy and more likely than not she would never be able to get chemo again.  She NEEDS chemo.  She isn't able to have it with her obstructions, so she has been without since the beginning of December and her cancer has been aggressive since Day 1 (February 4, 2014).  He decided he wants to have a PEG tube inserted.  It'll be like a feeding tube, but will work in reverse.  Hopefully she can still get treatments with the tube & some relief.  The entire journey is very important, but we have reached our point that we HAVE to get the cancer to dissipate.

It is so heart breaking watching the pain she goes through on a daily basis.  I know God has a plan.  We all know that.  But that doesn't mean that sometimes I don't want to just sit down with Him and say.... okay..... I need you to tell me what your plan is.  BUT I know, too, that that is all part of trusting Him.  Mom and I talk 500 times a day and we see each other almost daily.  We selfishly want her healed this side of Heaven, but as the Dr told us..... we are on the serious stretch.  We need a miracle and your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Our last dinner of 2015 was at McAlister's below the hospital.  My Uncle Sonny & Aunt Mandy drove me up yesterday and Aunt Becky came yesterday morning.  We had all planned to be together NYE anyway, just not this way. 

I snapped this picture of the two of them..... I thought it was really cute.... their last date of 2015. 

How we spent last night! PARTY ANIMALS!

I am VERY thankful to have such a wonderful Mother in Law.  She steps up and in without any hesitation and takes care of the kiddos.  She is afraid of so many things, but keeping 6 grand kids alone doesn't terrify her one bit.  She kept me informed throughout the day with what all they were doing.  It helps SO much getting pictures throughout the day.

There are 5 grand- girls and only 1 boy.  She said Karter needed someone.

 All but Sophie stayed up til midnight.  Cindy took the sweetest video of them counting down.  It started my day off so good watching it.

Before I crashed last night I facetimed them.  Karter was in and out of the picture, so I wasn't able to screenshot one with him.

Soph was missing her Mommy.

Anyway, the tube surgery is scheduled for around noon today.  Please just keep her in your prayers.