July 10, 2009

My Mom's Story

My mom is having a rough time right now with her current chemo. Her white cells were so low they had to give her a shot to boost them back up. The problem is that my mom does not respond well to that shot - one shot will send her into painful muscle spasms. To make matters worse, they forgot to give it to her last week so her levels dropped so low they have had to give her the shot Wednesday, Thursday and again today - 3 shots in 3 days - not good.

So I am asking, no begging, for you to keep her in your prayers. She is so strong but she just needs some extra strength right now.

I felt prompted to share my mom's story, so here it is:

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer the day I picked my wedding dress up from the seamstress. I stood in my wedding dress waiting for her to meet me to see the dress finished. I waited and waited. When she finally arrived she had tears streaming down her face and I instantly knew something was horribly wrong.

She had surgeries, tests, etc. and they determined that her lymph nodes were clear so she only needed to have radiation. After her radiation was finished she had to take a pill form of chemo for 5 years. They said that if she made it the 5 years without a reoccurance, she would probably be in the clear.

And she was for 8 years.

Then in November 07 they discovered that she had liver cancer. Turns out that it is the same cancer that she had previously. Even though her lymph nodes were clear, it only took 1 cell to sneak through and "hide" dormant in her liver for 8 years. We don't know what triggered it to become active but this is her current battle.

She has been on chemo for a year and a 1/2 now and is currently on her 4th type of chemo. They are trying to get the cancer back into dormancy and then keep it there with the same type of chemo pills that she was on for 5 years. Liver cancer is not curable and she will battle it the rest of her life.

She was blessed because they were able to catch it early - they found it in her blood work before her liver showed any symptoms of it. Actually, her liver is still functioning normally and shows no effects of being spotted with cancer cells.

Please pray that she will be able to be strong and get through this, that her pain may not be so bad and that it may pass quickly. I feel completely helpless because I can't do anything to make the pain go away so I am doing what I can do - praying. Please pray with me.

3 comments:

Melissa said...

Oh Jenn! Our hearts go out to you and your family. We will keep all of you in our prayers! Please give your mom our love. We love you guys!

Paul White said...

That's motivation to pray more often and with purpose!!

your mom and I connect on multiple levels whenever we have met.. At least that's how i have felt!!

The heart is not just strong because of being a muscle. It gains strength through love and being loved



Here is a poem I found I will share because i have yet to write one on this subject..



What Cancer Cannot Do
Submitted by: constancelynn
Author: Unknown
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.

Nikki said...

Jenn, your mom is such a trooper. We love her to pieces and we will continue to pray for her to receive strength and comfort!