Tuesday, October 6, 2009

my mom


I'm kind of sad at the moment. I have been thinking about my mom and her *cancer*. I was reading the obituaries in the paper and saw that a man who was 38 died after a 2 year battle with melanoma. He looked so young! My mom is younger than him.


In case you don't know, my mom has melanoma that has metasticised (sp?). She had a mass removed from her breast earlier this year and later one removed from her chest cavity. A few weeks ago she had one removed from her arm. So far she has been lucky in that all of the masses have been operable and havent affected major organs. But since the cancer has gotten into her lymph system that means little cells of cancer have spread all through her body and who knows where they will grow next. If they grow in her brain or liver or spine or something like that it would be bad news. Melanoma is very aggressive and hard to treat.


I just dont think about it very much because it is hard. My mom is so active and full of life. She works as a nurse. She is an avid bike rider and usually does a bike ride across iowa every year. She also like to kayak and ski. She sings and plays the guitar and performs at open mike nights with her friends. She is building a cabin on the wapsie river.


i wish I could see her more often. She lives 2 hours away and works full time and with Emma in school it is hard to get away even when our schedules are in sync. I feel like I am just taking it for granted that she will always be around and I will have lots of chances to spend time with her, because it is too painful to consider the alternative.
She would hate it that i posted this picture, because she thinks it is a bad picture. I like it.

8 comments:

now.is.now said...

She sounds like a lovely person, Lisa. You should send her parts of this post so that she knows how highly you think of her.

PTC said...

That's so sad about your mom. You should take weekend trips to see her. She sounds lovely.

Cammy said...

I like that picture very much also. I am so sorry that your family is having to deal with this. It is great, though, that she is able to maintain an active life and can still do the things she loves, hopefully you can try to focus on those things instead of worrying about other processes that you can't control. It actually sounds like she is getting way more out of life than many "healthy" people ever do. I know it's difficult, but hang in there, your family will both definitely be in my thoughts.

Eating With Others said...

I wish her all the best! She sound as though she is really liver her life. It's a great to hear of someone living life with so much enthusiasm.

Alexandra Rising said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. Is she undergoing any treatments? My dad had melanoma and the interferon worked really well for him.
Best of luck to your mother and to you :) She looks very cute!

I Hate to Weight said...

your mom does look great in that picture. she's clearly an amazing woman.

you and your mom are in my prayers. take care of yourself too.

thank you for sharing this with us.

Keely said...

I agree with Cammy. All you can do is live your life to the fullest and appreciate the time you have. My mom doesn't have cancer, but I haven't talked to her in 6 months. Not once. I feel guilty about it sometimes too and sometimes think I take it for granted. No one knows how much time they have left. All you can do is love them and keep in touch. Even if you can't physically get together as often as you'd like, you can always call. :) Annie is pretty talkative on the phone. I'll keep a build-a-bear on my list for her for christmas.

Stacy said...

Praying for her as well as you. *HUGS*