What a Weekend...

The past few days have been crazy, filled with lots of travel, little sleep, and lots of tears. It was a weekend I don't think we'll forget very soon...

On Friday night at about 7:00, Greg got a call from his brother Jeff (who is a doctor) saying that his mom was going in for surgery because she had Appendicitis. We were a little worried, but not too much since appendectomies aren't that uncommon. Greg called Jeff around 9:00 to see if she was done yet and if everything had gone okay, but she still wasn't out of surgery so he didn't know much at that point. Finally, around 10:30, we were both exhausted so we went to bed, only to be woken up by the phone at 11:30. I wasn't entirely awake so I wasn't paying much attention to the conversation until I heard Greg gasp and say, "Are you serious?!" I sat straight up in bed, worried, even though I wasn't sure what to be worried about. I waited a few more minutes while Greg finished talking to his brother, wondering what in the world could have happened that would have Greg (who is usually extremely calm) so upset. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, their conversation ended. He turned around with the saddest look on his face and said, "She has cancer."

We both broke down in tears and cried together for a long time. During those few minutes when he was on the phone with his brother and I was racking my brain as to what could have happened, I never in a million years guessed that it was cancer. I don't know why, it just never crossed my mind. So to hear that word when neither of us had prepared ourselves for it was really hard. I guess during the surgery, the surgeon got looking around and realized that the problem wasn't so much her appendix after all (though they did still end up taking that out) - instead, it was her colon. Greg and I talked well into the night after that - I wanted to give him comfort and peace, but honestly, I didn't know what to say. It was so hard to see him crying and talking about potentially losing his mom - it just broke my heart. And based on how hard that was for me, I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for him.

The next day, we headed up to Idaho to visit his parents and see what we could do to help. We found out that the surgeon was confident that she had removed most of the cancer, but she wouldn't know for sure until this week when the tests come back. That was hopeful news for all of us, and we're hoping to get some good news later this week. If there is still some cancer left, she will have to do Chemo, but at this point we are all hoping and praying that it doesn't come to that.

We stayed until yesterday, and then headed home to get caught up on life. We will be going back and forth for the next week when we can, and are just hoping and praying that everything turns out okay. It's just been an interesting couple of days to say the least, and it has definitely brought me back to the realization of how precious life really is. I take for granted experiences with both of our families way too often, and this has definitely made me realize that I can't do that anymore. I need to take advantage of every opportunity I have, and enjoy them the best I can.

Well, my apologies if this was a depressing post for anyone. I just thought I needed to write about it since it really was a life-changing weekend for Greg and I. Sheila is a wonderful woman, and we are just praying that she can make it through this and we can have her around longer. We should know the results of her tests later this week, so I will update the blog then. -Ash