I took Mom to get her staples out yesterday. All 18 of them.
Normally, I don't get "personal" on Facebook. I don't do it on my personal page, and I surely refrain from doing so on my business pages. But through this entire experience, I have felt so much support from our customers, our followers, friends, and family, that I really feel I need to report a little on Mom and her progress.
Let's cut to the chase.
They thought Mom had cancer.
Mom had seen a gastro specialist, and during her initial appointment with him, he asked her with raised eyebrows if there was a history of cancer in her family. He booked her for an endoscopy 2 days later. At this point she was already unable to eat and in severe abdominal pain. She was swollen and absolutely miserable.
The day they admitted her to the hospital, I had taken her to Columbia for the endoscopy. During the procedure, she got violently ill while still under anesthesia. Despite that, they did manage to see that the opening from her stomach to the small intestine was almost completely shut. Her doctor realized immediately that she was very sick, and he admitted her to the hospital right away.
When I got to the recovery room, the doctor met me and told me that she was a "very, very sick lady".
Basically she was slowly being poisoned.
I could look at her and tell that she was very ill.
And she was crying. Crying not because of herself, but because she was worried about me being upset. Apologizing to the nurses for making a mess and scaring them all half to death.
That's my mom.
So I wiped her teary face, cleaned up her clothes, and hid my own tears for the ride home that night.
I won't tell you how afraid I was at this point.
And I won't tell you how much it broke my heart to see my mom this sick.
Once in the hospital, they put mom on a diet of ice chips. Out of her 15 day stay, she had ice chips for 12.
While we were there, she had the absolute best nurses. They were so sweet and gentle with her. I thank God for those nurses.
For the next several days, I was a total wreck.
When Mr. B finally made it to my side, I fell apart.
Situations like this force you to consider the "what ifs" and things that lie out of your control.
My mom is my best friend. I honestly can't imagine my life without her in it. And thinking about loosing her and how much she was suffering was breaking my heart. There are truly no words.
Mom was a trooper. She contracted pneumonia from aspiration. They also found MRSA in her nasal region. She handled each unpleasant test with grace and kindness. She never got upset. She will tell you to this day that she could FEEL the prayers and FEEL peace. She was at peace with everything, and she faced it like a warrior. She wasn't even upset when they told her that she needed major surgery.
Her surgery was on February 6.
Longest, most scary day of my life.
They removed 20-25% of her stomach which had been damaged by peptic ulcer disease and created scar tissue over time which closed the duodenum. They did gastric bypass to create a new way for her stomach to move food into the small intestine. They also did a preventative surgery to keep her from having ulcers in the future. Funny thing is, she didn't even know that she had stomach ulcers.
While they were in there, they took lots of biopsies because they were openly concerned that this was cancer. Praise the Lord, it was all benign.
Her recovery has been very painful, and the first few days were very difficult for her. She had an NG tube, a pic line, drainage tubes. It was so very sad. She has lost an incredible amount of weight, and being that she normally weighs around 110, she didn't have much to lose.
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First meal in almost 2 weeks!
1 Chicken Tender!
And it was the best chicken tender ever. |
Mom came home on Friday, February 15.
It's a miracle that she's here. She was so close to death, but she's here with us. I thank God for that.
She's cancer free. I thank God for healing her in his very own way.
I thank God for each card, message, phone call, visit, gift, meal, and flower that has been sent to her. I thank him for using people to make her feel loved and special. I thank God for the helpers.
I thank him for her and for blessing my family with each other. We don't deserve his goodness.
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The cherry blossoms started blooming after Mom's surgery.
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This entire experience has truly reverberated with Christ.
From the big picture, down to the smallest, almost insignificant details, God was in it all.
Through this, God has taught me so many lessons.
So much perspective.
He has spoken to my heart directly in ways that he has never done before.
He has whispered into my soul and brought me comfort and joy.
He has reminded me to live as an example to others and to live a life of love and service.
He has taught me about faith in the darkest times.
So, you're probably wondering what this means for MaDa.
Well. It means a lot.
First of all, we will not be releasing an "official" Spring/Summer line this year. Depending on Mom's progress, we MAY do a few pieces... more of a "mini" collection for Summer.
We will be moving slowly for a bit longer. At least another month. Just a heads up!
We WILL still continue to do monogramming and embroidery.
We will be having another flash sale on March 7.
AND.... I have a few more surprises coming your way very soon.
I will debut them next week!
Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for her. She's got a very long road ahead, and this is a slow recovery and healing process.
We appreciate your patience during this time. I am currently living at home to take care of my Mom and hold down the fort. Please be aware that it may take me longer to respond to emails, and shipping will take a little longer since I am not able to go to the post office several times a week right now. If you're trying to place an order, please send us an email at madadesignsonline@gmail.com. It's the best way to reach us.... just give me a few days to respond.
Thank y'all for being a part of the MaDa family.
xo
jj
