Big Finish, But Keep on Keepin' On

On June 30th, I was in London. My mom, however, was thousands of miles away from me going through her sixth and final round of chemotherapy. A finale I was not able to help celebrate, I continued to think of her throughout that entire day, wishing I could give her one big celebratory hug of congratulations for making it through hell and back to face this disease a second time. Luckily, I have an amazing friend who went with my mom to hold her hand through her last treatment - the treatment Mom had been waiting to finish for months. The day was described to me by my friend and by Mom as "very emotional," as Mom was proud of herself for finishing, relieved to be done, scared of what the next few weeks would hold getting through another round of poison in her system, worried that maybe 6 treatments wasn't enough to get rid of the cancer for good, sad to say goodbye to her nursing staff, filled with questions about what comes next, grateful for how far she'd come, and "prayerful" that she'd never have to see a chemo line again.

So, we're celebrating the end of a long few months that brought about such pain and uncertainty for all of us, but mostly for Mom. From stomach pains to nausea, from bloatedness to losing her taste, from mouth sores to hair loss, from exhaustion to dry skin - she's been through it all. It's nice to know that those things will begin to improve for her soon, and we'll continue to celebrate one step at a time!

But, this week, Mom had another surgery to alleviate pressure under her arm after the lymph node removal surgery before she even started chemo. Once she heals from this, she'll find out the plan for radiation therapy from a different oncologist. After that, it's back to more surgery. By the end of this long road, Mom will have been poked, proded, sliced, carved, drained, - you name it, but she will still be my mother, she'll still have that "go-get-'em" spirit that got her through all of this, and most importantly, she will be!

Hang in there, Mom! It can only get better from here. I am SO proud of you each and every day for everything you've gone through and for continuing to fight! Thank you for putting up with all of the pain and all of the frustration. We all love you so much, and I am so proud to be your daughter!

You are my sunshine,

my only sunshine.

You make me happy,

when skies are gray.

You'll never know, dear,

how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away.