Update on Mom

Yesterday was my mom's surgery to remove PAT (the pancreatic tumor) from our lives. She came through it well. They had to remove 80% of her pancreas, even though the tumor was only the size of a marble. That thing had sloshed around in there so much that it created all kind of damage so she'll have to learn to live on a low carb diet but... all things considered... that's ok. They also removed her spleen and about 1% of her stomach. The surgeon didn't see anything else that looked suspect but of course, pathology has to be done and all that but it was, for the most part, a good outcome. She had some trouble with her blood pressure after the surgery and of course, there's always a risk of infection with major surgery so please continue to keep her in prayer.

Also if you would, keep Pop in prayer. He's been with her throughout the process and is operating on little sleep. Whenever he does head home, it will be a drowsy drive for him. Mom will be in the hospital until probably Sunday or Monday.

As for me and the little doggie - life is good. I splurged on Sunday and bought myself a new recliner. Since Oscar must have human contact at all times or HE WILL DIE (or so he thinks) he has to sit wherever I sit. Squeezing him beside me in my narrow little recliner causes a lot of pain on my hip/gut pain region. So I went out an bought a recliner wide enough for him to lay beside me comfortably. Since I spend about 99% of my life in My Nest, it was time for a new one anyways. It is working perfectly!

Our old girl, Lady, crossed over the rainbow bridge on Saturday. We knew that her quality of life had sharply declined. She had lost quite a bit of weight and couldn't hear or see and had trouble walking. She was incontinent and... like I said, quality of life. The Vet agreed that she was suffering and felt like it was the humane thing to do to go ahead and let her go. We miss her, of course, but it has made my dog-sitting duties infinitely easier. Honestly, other than the occasional possessiveness over his food bowl and the occasional need to go outside to go potty, he's no more trouble than the cats. I feel like God neatly worked things out perfectly for this time of our lives.

Yesterday was a tense day for me, with the worry about how mom would fare in surgery, worrying about what they might find... and all the other things that go through your mind. It's been a new experience for me, to have someone so close to me be so seriously and potentially terminally ill. For two months we've lived under that dark cloud. Not that we didn't have happy moments - we're fairly optimistic people by nature... not that we were obsessed with it... it was just the elephant in the room. Even as I bought Christmas gifts I thought, "will she be able to use this for long?" and wondered what next Christmas would be like. I was unprepared for the emotional relief that would come after we got word that she had made it through surgery and the prognosis was good. It was then that I broke down.  For the rest of the day I had that weariness - tired eyes - headachey feeling that comes after a good cry. Today I feel like I was hit by a truck - everything hurts! I realize now how tense I was.

So that's what's happening. Now we can look forward to the birth of my new nephew in the next month or so... my parents 50th anniversary in March... Cosette's 1st birthday party... Ollie's first birthday... and two weddings! It's a great time to be alive! I am so grateful for your prayers and well wishes. I am so blessed to have such a great support network! Hope you are all doing well and I'll update again when there's anything new to report. Love and hugs, y'all!