Everyone will be where they belong!

Dad is coming home tomorrow (Saturday.) He apparently stopped bleeding, and maybe it was a small ulcer that healed??? He will be going to another bigger hospital that can do tests that the one he is currently in cannot do.
Mom is home and still waiting results!! (I am super frustrated about that, but that is a side note!!) She is bored out of her mind as she sits and heals...poor lady! she is never one to sit and do nothing - she is constantly moving. If you live nearby and want to pop in and say hi, that would be great! If you have any suggestions to help her pass time over the next few months, that would be great too! LOL! Thanks for praying!

Dad

Nothing new on Mom right now. She is home and recovering. Dad is still in the hospital having tests. They discovered he has GERD but they do not think that is why he is bleeding, so they are keeping him another night and will do more tests. Krissy is doing a lot of running back and forth and taking care of both Mom and Dad...she needs to be lifted up. Thanks!!

...and more

Well, Mom is home and doing ok. She said she was able to eat a little and when I spoke to her on the phone this morning she sounded very chipper! Then she called this afternoon - to tell me that they were admitting DAD to the hospital and he may have to have surgery! He has been bleeding internally and they do not know where it is coming from. He has has a bleeding ulcer in the past and this could be another, but he is in bad shape. My guess is that he was not feeling great this whole week, but didn't want to make a big deal about it with Mom's cancer stuff! Anyway, he will have more tests tomorrow - they will use a scope to try to figure out what is going on and then they will stop the bleeding. He is on morphine right now because the pain is pretty bad.
Needless to say, Mom is having a hard time with not being able to be there. Dad told her to stay home (smart move!) and she stayed at home with Gram today. My sister, Krissy took Dad and stayed with him all day. My brother and his wife (Mike and Gina) were going over tonight, and I think Dad's sister was goin to be there. This is all craziness...but I am thankful for family that is there for each other, friends and strangers alike praying for us all, and for God's faithfulness in everything!
Thank you, again for all your prayers and love!!!

(This is a picture of my Dad with one of my nephews, Dylan, a couple years ago! Dad hates getting his pic taken!)

Here is a picture of Sommer, Andrea, and Mom before she was discharged. Thanks for your prayers!!

from Krissy again

this is krissy. so doctors said that she shouldnt be around 2nd hand smoke.. and so far she has been in the house.. dad put the cig out when i told him but then lit acouple more up... please pray that somehow they(everyone) in the family who smokes and gonna be around her that they would think and not smoke... i hooked up a humidifer thing b4 i left tonite and i did say something to dad but all he said was he will go out into the other room.. which the smoke is still gonna be in the house they just need to leave the house all around and smoke outside.. so just pray that they will get it and smoke outside so that mom isnt near it.. she needs to recovery and thats not gonna help!

Coming Home!!

Yay! Mom was discharged from the hospital today! (Here is a pic of her riding home with my sister, Krissy) There is still no results as far as what type of cancer we are dealing with, but they felt she would be more comfortable and heal better at home. No matter what she will not start chemo for about 6 weeks because she still has some major healing to do! She is extremely happy to be headed home, and it will be easier for Dad since he will not have to drive over 1.5 hours each way to see her.

The doctors are apparently leaning towards ovarian cancer, which is a much better prognosis than gallbladder. We don't know for sure yet (and I was not there, so I do not know whay they are saying that) but they feel pretty good about the outlook for things. She is young (53), in good health and physical condition, and they think they got most of it out (except the whole gallbladder thing, which they are counting on chemo to shrink so they can remove it safely.)

You could pray for Dad...we are not sure if he cought a flu, if it is stress, or a combo of things, but he has been thowing up and pretty sick! He couldn't even work today.

Thanks for your prayers, and we will continue to keep you updated!!

From Krissy

Now on the other note pray for my daddy he seems to be doing better but he hasn't eaten since probably monday and he keeps throwing up if he trys to eat... well tonite he got home and walked in the door and broke out in a cold sweat and threw up... something just doesnt seem rite... so please pray for him... thanxs again!!!

Mom and baby Nicholas

This is my cousin Jackie's son, Nicholas. He is in the same hospital mom is in waiting to have heart surgery. He visited her today!

prayer request

Today (Saturday) was a pretty good day overall for mom. She was able to get a shower and walked up and down the hall a few times! She cannot eat until she has a bowel movement. She has had many rumblings inside, but no "action." She took a peppermint tums-type thing and immediately threw it up along with a bunch of bile. This took a toll on her physically and emotionally tonight. She text me and asked me to have people pray for her to be able to pass gas.
She has a low grade fever tonight. She has been having hot and cold flashes, but is going through immediate menopause with the hysterectomy. She thought this would not be a problem, but it is bothering her a lot.
Dad, Gram, and Krissy were there today for most the day and Krissy is the one who updated me. Pray for her as she has a lot on her plate.
Andrea and Sommer went there this evening and will spend some time with her. She can take a sleeping pill tonight, and hopefully by the time they leave she will be in a nice sleep!
Thanks again for your prayers!

From Krissy

This is krissy!!.. mom texted me this morning, so u can tell she is getting better ... she is writing long texts and u can actually understand what she is saying... lol unlike the other nite! She was getting up and getting a shower at that point and that was at 9:45. She does seem to be doing better today other than being really tired. She said since she hasn't been able to sleep, doc said that she can have a sleeping pill but she just hasnt asked for one yet.

moving right along

I (Heather) came home last night late. It is hard to spread ourselves in two places...but many of you have dealt with that before, so you understand! For the first time in a year I can say I am glad we are not in Africa right now!

So, Mom was doing much better yesterday. When I got there she was being a little grumpy about the blood pressure cuff feeling tight and wanting to get a shower! I was glad to see she was still fiesty! They moved her to a different room since she does not have to be in the special care unit anymore. Unfortunately that means she has a roomate, but she did not seem to mind as much as we did! (We should feel sorry for her roomate with all of us coming everyday!) She was able to get off the cath, morphine drip, and bp cuff. She is taking percocet in the pill form and starting liquids, and seems to be ok with that. The doctors said that maybe by tomorrow she could try solids, but she is in no hurry for that...it is a little intimidating for her to think about that right now!

She can walk by herself today and even get a shower! That will make her day!

Still no news on the biopsy. I was irritated, but my Dad is being so patient about everything! They said definitely by the beginning of this week. It will depend on whether it is gallbladder or ovarian cancer the type of treatment they begin and the aggressiveness of it.

Thank you all for cards, food, gifts of gas money, calls, and PRAYERS!! You are all such a blessing to us and it is overwhelming to feel love from so many of you!

Sitting up...

A New Day

Today was a better day for all of us! Mom was able to get the tube coming from her bowel out and was able to keep some ice chips in. She got up and sat in a chair for a while, and the nurses helping her commented on how strong she is - I could have told them that! LOL! The incision looks good, though rather intimidating! It was a good day with all of my sisters there and my brother-in-law, Randal. Randal is good at making Dad laugh, so it was nice to have him there with us!
There was no news on the t ype of cancer yet, so we are hoping to hear tomorrow. I (Heather) am headed back home Saturday, so I would really like to know before I go, but as with anything we are trusting God's timing. I think we are all starting to understand that this is just the beginning. We will let Mom get home sometime next week, then take turns coming and staying with her for a few days at a time. I think her biggest worry about chemo is the boredom! She has not ever been one to sit still long. So we have promised to come and color with her, read to her, watch a movie, or whatever. Of course, this is all said without having any clue what we will be facing!
For those who have asked...she has very good insurance and they do not seem to be worried about that aspect. I talked to Dad today about it. She also has tons (about 800 hours) of sick time accumulated and some vacation, so she is not worried about a job situation right now, she can instead focus on doing what she needs to do now.
Please pray for all the family traveling...it is a little over 2 hours for Andrea and Sommer (who is staying at her in-laws) each way, and about 1.5 hours for Dad, Krissy and other family members. That gets tiring each day, though we all feel better when we are there with her. All of us moms/wives miss our kids/husbands, but want to be with Mom, too. Many of you out there can relate to this, I know!!
Thanks for taking the time to read this and pray...we have felt the effects of those prayers and know that God is at work!

New Beginnings...

Hello everyone!

What a week we have had so far! Thank you all for joining us in this journey with my mom!

After watching poor Krissy try to either call or text everyone yesterday whenever we got more information, I offered to set up this blog! You will probably see either me (Heather) or one of my sisters (Andrea, Sommer, or Krissy) posting on this! We will try to let you know who it is so you do not get confused...especially since some of you reading this do not know all four of us! It's kind of amazing to think of the multitude of prayers and where they are coming from all over the world!!

Let me start from the beginning with an insert from Sommer's email:

"It started about 6 months ago when she went in for an ultrasound and I believe yearly checkup. They found a fibroid tumor which they said was usually not cancerous, but none the less they never addressed it with her. She was feeling worse so we all encouraged her to go back. She was told about the fibroid, then a cat scan was done. They found a swollen gall bladder and a pelvic cystic neurosis. She went in Tues. for a hysterectomy and about 6 weeks later was to go back in for the gall bladder. Once opened up they immediately sewed her back up and flew her to Geisinger Hospital (A good cancer hospital in Danville, PA). They found cancer from her pelvic area all the way up to her gall bladder. They got her in for surgery around 4:30 Tues. They removed her ovaries, uterus, part of her liver, part of her colon, part of her bowels and burned some off of the intestines. There is a still a huge mass near her gall bladder which was not removed at this time because of organs near by. They plan to attack this with chemo. We are waiting the biopsy report as to what cancer but they are looking I believe at either gall bladder or ovarian so they can start the next treatment.

She is sore and tired, but fully relying on God. She is an amazing woman and there is always a reason for everything, but in our minds we cannot even comprehend. Thank you so much for you prayers. Feel free to pass this on for even more...we can all petition to God. He does hear today, He does heal today and He is always with us. "

People have asked many questions about how to help. so let me address some:
1. She cannot accept flowers at the hospital, so please do not send them there!
2. She is able to have visitors and phone calls, as long as we are careful not to be too loud and make her more tired or stressed.
3. Gram lives with Mom and Dad and is a great help. Krissy also lives just down the street, and Mike (my brother) and his wife Gina live nearby. They are taking care of many things that it takes to run a household - paying bills, the dogs, cleaning, meals, etc! Please pray for them ion all this as they take on many of Mom's different roles for a while!
4. She will be able to do chemo in Williamsport, PA, which is about 40 minutes from here so they will not have to travel as far each week.

We are hoping to hear the results of the biopsy either today or tomorrow, and I will update you again then! Thanks!!!!!!!!