Cancer

I got a text late this morning from my brother Darren, confirming that my mom had cancer. 

Sid, Alex and I had made plans weeks ago to go to Pinners Conference, so I was up in Sandy at the Expo Center, surrounded by thousands of shoppers, bustling shopping booths and people going about their happy day. 

My head was reeling. I couldn't really think straight and was stunned. 

I had believed in my head that she probably did have cancer. But my heart and soul hadn't even opened the door to that possibility yet. 

I had gotten separated from the girls while buying some jewelry for them  I didn't know where they were  my head was swimming and I just began to zig zag my way through the isles.  I done tended up way past them. Didn't even know I had walked past them and to double back to them  a little bit.

How was I supposed to react?  What was I supposed to do?  How was this possible?

They believe it started in her lung.  Although she never smoked a cigarette a day in her life, the secondhand smoke she endured from my grandpa, (her dad) is what gave it to her I'm sure. I always knew she had "smokers lungs" even though she had never smoked. I knew she had asthma from it and other breathing problems.

But I did not expect this.

She couldn't breathe and was having a hard time getting a good breath so I took her to the InstaCare Friday, October 4 in the evening. They gave her a steroid treatment and a prescription for steroids and sent her on her way.

Tuesday, October 8, Caden and Molly had to call the ambulance to come and pick her up because she could not breathe. She was taken to Payson Hospital and placed in ICU for five days.

They drained 3 liters of fluid from her right lung. Tested it, said she was boring and that she didn't have anything wrong with her. And discharged her that Saturday afternoon.

By that following Wednesday, Oct 16th,  Sidney and Molly were driving her back to Provo Hospital. She had black stool and couldn't breathe very well again. They admitted her, and ran a series of tests. EKG, CT scans, ultrasound of her legs, more CT scans, more EKGs, and diagnosed her with a plethora of issues:

 Congestive heart failure

They did a endoscopy and found a bleeding ulcer. Several actually. They took care of them during the endoscopy.

"Extensive" Blood clots in each leg. They didn't even count them. There were so many. That explains her leg pain. They took her in for an emergency procedure to put a block in her artery to keep the clots from coming loose and going through her lungs.

A bed sore that is killing her.

Her kidneys and bowles are barely functioning.

And worst of all, the cancer.