My Mom's Angel

The last few days have been undeniably hard.

My mother had a double mastectomy on Friday (October 24th) at Fox Chase Cancer Center. She was in surgery for over 12 hours as they removed both of her breasts, and reconstructed them from fat tissue from her stomach. Her body was butchered in every sense of the word. And we tensely waited in the surgical waiting room for close to 16 hours. Every door that opened, every footstep heard coming down the hall, every telephone ring made us jump. The surgery ended with no complications around 9pm and the first thing she asked once awake was, "Where are my girls?"

Still makes me cry thinking about it.

We weren't able to see her for more than a few minutes--basically to give her a kiss goodnight--but we returned early the next morning, armed with pink roses. And even though she was groggy and in a lot of pain, she was all smiles for us.

The last two days have been up and down--yesterday she was in a lot of pain and couldn't get comfortable. It was awful to watch--all I wanted was to take the pain away. But they also had her up and walking, which was astonishing. My mom is a true fighter and has the strength of a warrior.

I realize now, writing this, how lucky she is. How lucky we all are that my aunt--on her deathbed--urged her to go get a mammogram. My mom had been neglecting her own health in the last few years because she was so concerned about her. I thank God that she listened to her. My aunt saved her life because they caught it early. We were surrounded by others in that waiting room who weren't as lucky. Who will have long battles ahead with a lot of bad news.

It's truly scary to think about how close she was--the tumors were right in her armpit, inches from lymph nodes. If she had waited any longer, the outcome would be drastically different.

We truly have someone watching over us on the other side. And I know she's with her even now. Thanks Aunt Annie for protecting her and filling her with strength.

 Love you.