In 1990 my mom (Vera) was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, but she didn't
believe the doctor so she went to get a second opinion, it wasn't until
then that she heard the devastating news...Vera had a malignant tumor that
weighed approximately 22 pounds and was as big around as a basketball.
She scheduled a surgery to remove the tumor in Chicago, Illinois, which
meant that we wouldn't be seeing mommy for awhile (seeing how she didn't
want to loose her pride) which is very hard for an eight year old girl
to hear, when all she has for that time is her three brothers ages 11-16
and a dad.
When she returned home she started taking the normal radiation therapy
treatments and was even close to remission. But then the doctors saw that
her levels had risen tremendously, and sent her home telling her that she
should prepare her family for the worst. She had underwent many surgeries
during that time and after this surgery when she was sent home to basically
die, she was asleep in her room and she was kinda in and out of her sleep.
When she had the T.V. on a station that she never watches and she heard
a report on T.V. about a new drug that they were testing on humans that
might cure certain cancer and ovarian was one of them. She told my father
about this and so they called the T.V. station to find out more about it.
The anchor was very surprised that Vera had even heard it because it was
a 30 second spot that he had picked up as the health tip of the day.
Vera always said that when God closes a door he always opens a window.
So being the fighter that she is she decided to try this "wonder drug"
She had to fly to San Antonio, Texas once a month for this was the only
place licensed to administer the drug. And this put a huge financial burden
on our family. Not to mention the cost for the treatment, hotels, airplane
and food. We had ran out of money and had no where to turn and then a group
that makes contributions and flies people said they would fly her for free.
But what they didn't realise is that that meant they would fly her every
month. So they couldn't do it anymore, so we somehow managed to get the
money, with my brother's help who was only 16 years old, to fly Vera back
and forth, but the fight as we would find out was just beginning.
Vera's arms couldn't take the medicine any more the thing they used
in her chest to put the medicine in had fallen out 3 times and so doctors
decided to try something else. Vera was the first human to get a catheter
put in her. This is a screw like object with a soft bubble on the top that
the doctors put into the patients hip and it transports the medication
directly to the bone marrow. But after only a few weeks it stopped working
so doctors put in another one which also failed. They gave Vera two options
either she could go home and spend her last few days with her family or
she could have the medicine put in straight through her smaller veins.
She decided to go with the smaller veins, but as doctors soon found out
the medicine was literally burning and destroying her veins. It sometimes
took up to 22 tries to get an IV started.
Doctors did this until they had no other option, they had already tried
2 new, experimental drugs on her and her body was now giving up. She had
to have bags to collect her bodily fluids for her body would function correctly
and she could no longer eat. They sent Vera home knowing that she hadn't
given up, her body had. We had the visiting nurses and I even got to start
IVs on her and she had to be feed "through the tube" she was put on bed
rest. She even talked and laughed for awhile but then started getting really
sick.
Vera, my mother, didn't even know who I was. She started having the
flashbacks of her old job and thought I was her sister. I can still remember
the day she passed away, my one brother had moved out and my other was
with my dad getting a wheel-chair and other medical supplies while my brother
laid on the front porch, I was inside with my mom and she started breathing
really slow so me and my brother called the nurse and she told us it wouldn't
be long and she would rest in peace. My dad came home and we moved the
hospital bed out into the dining room so her friends could come talk to
her and she could get her rest.
It was late at night and my cousins and I were in the basement when
my aunt told us to come upstairs. "Her breathing is getting slower," they
said. And I remembered how the day before I prayed to God that he either
make her better or take her away. He granted that prayer on Tuesday night.
My mom never gave up her body quit on her. She proved the doctors wrong
many times when they would say "any day now". My dad told me before she
died that he always said good-bye to her at night because she told him
that one day she might not see the light. So I went up to my mom and said
"good-bye mom I love you" of course she didn't answer in words but I know
she said it too.
I am telling you this so you can pass the word on that even if no one
else thinks it can happen just keep trying, and to always tell your loved
ones how you feel. I know I have no regrets because I got to tell her how
I felt you should too. My mom died when I was 12, for 4 years she fought
the statistics, and never quit.
ICQ
World top 100 sites
The
World's Top Greetings
World
top 100 sites
