change of plans

yesterday i got a phone call that changed my "big plans" for next week. you see, my mom has been really sick for a few months. she can't eat without her body retaliating with excruciating stomach pain. she has missed work a lot, on and off here and there, depending on when her body decides to attack. i saw her last weekend and she looked gaunt and downright haggard. even so, she was in great spirits, as my mom nearly always is. she is one of those very good at "smiling through the pain."

mom has gone to the doctor. the pain was bad enough one night that she went to the emergency room. she suspected it was her gallbladder, which she'd had problems with in the past, but the tests came out okay...so the doctors just scratched their heads and sent her on her way. she was turned down for an appointment to a specialist that her regular doctor referred her to. all the while she was feeling miserable. the rest of us were outraged and angry that the doctors were letting her continue on this way, when there was clearly something very wrong.

finally this week mom was able to meet with her savior. she called yesterday to let me know the results. her gallbladder is in fact diseased and needs to be removed. it is likely the reason for the majority of her symptoms. but along with that, she has a baseball sized tumor near an ovary. they don't know yet whether it is cancerous. she is having surgery on tuesday to have both removed. we will know more about the tumor then.

i am very glad that they finally found out what was wrong. i am very angry that it took them so long and they made her suffer longer than was necessary. i am very terrified that the tumor could be cancerous, since it runs in our family and my mom's brother had it.

tuesday i will be at mayo in rochester, sitting with my stepdad while the surgery takes place. praying that everything goes well and that there is no cancer. mom's parents are 79 and 84, and i'm counting on her to be around for a hell of a lot longer.