Counting Our Blessings!

Well, there has been a lot happening that my family would like to update everyone on!  First of all, my mom had her 4th round of chemo.  This could possibly have been her last round, or she could receive approximately 2 more rounds of chemotherapy.  She will have a PET scan done on July 17, and that will determine if she needs to receive a few more rounds of chemotherapy or not.  If she does not need to receive more chemotherapy, she could possibly be put on a hormone drug.  This last round of chemo was pretty tough on her.  Her mouth sores were pretty bad, but they are getting better with time.  Let's just say she is ready to be done!  She is still in good spirits and running around like a mad woman!  :)

Here is a picture of her ringing the bell, as she is finished with chemo for now!  And also a picture of one of her wonderful nurses.

We also had another setback this week.  My mom asked if I would update you all on my dad, as I know many have heard and have been asking.  Last Sunday, he suffered through a heart attack.  He was outside lifting some playground equipment, and a little while after that he started to feel very nauseous and dizzy.  It was very hot out, so our first thought was he had some heat stroke.  He was with my husband, Matt, and after a short time, they decided he better head to the ER.  After doing some tests they said he was having a heart attack and was rushed to the cath lab where he had 2 stents put in.  Basically, he had blockage in 2 of his arteries that were preventing the blood flowing to and from his heart, so they tried to get through the blockage and then put a device called a stent in this area to keep the vessel open.  This was VERY scary for us.  The nurse told us if we would have waited another hour to bring him in, he would have passed away.  The type of heart attack he had usually kills people, because he didn't have direct "chest pain" or pain going down his left arm, he just had nausea and heartburn.  Most people with these symptoms just try to wait it out at home, blaming it on food they ate or something like that, which is why it kills so many people.  We are SO lucky he was smart enough to go to the ER.  We are definitely counting our blessings!  He had a rough first day, but is doing much better right now.  A lot of thoughts went through my dads mind during this, and as my brother Matt and I rode with him in the elevator right before his procedure, he could hardly talk, he was in so much pain.  But he turned to my brother Matt and said, "How is Ava?"  He is having a heart attack, and can only think about his grandkids.  We are so lucky to still have him with us.  He will need to do some rehab and take it easy for a while, but he should be okay!  Thank you all for your prayers, and please continue to pray for him and my mom!  Here is a picture of Dad reading to Mason in the hospital, along with a picture of Ava wanting to take care of Papa!

 

Whew!  It is easy for us to think, how much more can we take?!  Then I think about us all sitting in the procedure waiting room, waiting to find out how Dad is doing, and all it took was a quick phone call and my brothers, their wife and fiancé, my mom, my husband, the grandkids, everyone was there in minutes.  I think about how close we are and how many blessings we have, and I think...what's one more bump in the road?  We have each other, my parents are still with us, we have so many people praying for us, and we have God on our side.  We may have shed many tears the past few months, but we will all get through it. 

Well I will let you know how my mom's scan turns out the end of July.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support.  My mom and dad truly appreciate everything, as does the rest of my family!  Here is one last picture of us at Relay for Life!