Summer was in full bloom here in Marblehead. We were enjoying our boat,having lobster rolls, swimming, going to the beach. I was playing in my garden, we were having cook outs and parties and planning trips and all the munchkins were visiting us and then suddenly my Mom got sick. What started as a simple stomach bug requiring an intervention for possible dehydration, turned into a nightmare of hospitalization and tests and biopsies and the shocking discovery of an extremely rare form of Burkitt's non-Hodgins lymphoma. I mean less than 200 people in the entire United States have this form of lymphoma. Rare indeed! This simply took the wind out of all our sails to say the least. We were in disbelief! Mom's mother, my grandmother, lived to be 97, her sister, my Aunt Alice, went on to live to 104, longevity in our family is everywhere or so we thought. Now, we have been fighting alongside Mom, who is only 89, each and every day for almost 3 months to battle this demon. We formed a "Circle of Love" and surrounded her with our family and close friends to support her, to be with her, to love her. You have to understand how this all started. Mom lives alone, drives, works at the church thrift shop, does her own shopping and cooking and is completely self sufficient. One day she is driving her Volvo to get a mani/pedi and then the next day she has some intestinal issues....a stomach bug type of thing. And now we are battling for her life.
I have not been on my blog since this happened. I haven't been able to do much of anything. I have been with Mom each and every day since the inception of her illness while also trying to maintain my own life with the Captain and keep my business going. I am a strong woman...I get that from my Mom, but I do have to say it is a challenge each day to deal with the Chemotherapy treatments, the doctors and nurses, the new medical issues that seem to crop up. Scary and tiring and overwhelming and hopeful.
So while we now care for Mom at home with our "Circle of Love", I try to find some time here and there to maintain my life as well. Mom is doing well and is completely competent and alert, so we are grateful for each and every day we have with her. Each day is a gift and I intend to be with her on this journey each step of the way. I am so grateful that I live near my Mom, as does my brother, so we could support her during this time. I think it has made an enormous difference to be close by. After all, family is the most important thing and ours is wonderful!
Don't hesitate to tell the ones you love how you really feel about them while they are still with you. Life is always giving us new challenges to face so we never know what the next day will bring and who will be there to share that new day. So, tell them how much you love them ! Hope is a wonderful thing!
The photo of Mom and I above is from Mother's Day last year.
