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Enjoying Mom! Helping a Parent Through Cancer Part 15

Mom and I September 08

Its Thanksgiving time again and it’s a little over a year since Mom got her diagnosis.  She’s went through cancer treatment and now recovery and the whole family has gone with her on this wild ride.

Her birthday is November 11 and last November 11 we had just gotten her diagnosis, aggressive melanoma tumor located in her right nasal sinus.  That meant a nasty tumor under her eye which had already invaded the eye.  We talked with 4 doctors and the last one, Dr. Urken of Beth Israel Hospital, said he could operate and remove the tumor.  We were waiting to hear when the surgery would be.

It was a pretty tense 84th birthday party.  There was my mom & dad, Gloria and Carl, Mom’s sisters, Irene and Connie, Uncle George, my cousin, Rose and my brother, Tony.  I made this toast.

I said, “Let’s all imagine its Mom’s 85th birthday, not her 84th.  And we are jubilant because the whole thing is over.  Mom is healthy and happy and well and the cancer is gone and we are celebrating!”

We all toasted to that and the atmosphere was lighter.

That day happened.  On November 11 this year, we actually had that party.  All the same people were there and we had a few more.  We were jubilant.  We gave many speeches about Mom, how much we appreciated her and how happy we were to have her with us so healthy and happy.

She lost her eye and wears a dark lense on that side.  The skin has healed over it.  She’s not looking into additional surgeries to make it look like she has an eye.

She’s got a fancy prosthesis replacing part of her mouth that was removed to get at the tumor.  We went back to the doctor last week because he is making her a new one.  Apparently there is one that can stand up to the radiation treatment and then another one she gets after she’s survived radiation and healed.

Her last radiation treatment was back in May.  Dr. Okay looked at her mouth and was very pleased.  He explained that her mouth and gums looked great.  The skin was very pink and healthy.

After radiation, the mouth had gotten very friable, brittle and scorched.  It was difficult for Mom to eat or drink and we almost lost her at that time.  It’s almost miraculous how everything has repaired so beautifully.

It’s also a bit miraculous how healthy she is, because Mom is a lot healthier now than when she went into surgery.  She was on lots of medication for high blood pressure and cholesterol.  She was about 80 lbs overweight.

As part of her care, I got her on very high quality vitamins and minerals.  I love these products because they turned my health around and now I make them available to other people like me.

Mom would never take them before the cancer and she’d gotten to a place where she could hardly walk very far.  She used to be a marathon shopper, and wore us all out.  Now she had to sit while we shopped.

That’s all turned around now.  She lost about 70 lbs and she did it healthy, not by wasting away as so often happens with cancer.  She never lost muscle.

She’s off all her medications and her blood pressure is great.

I believe the nutritionals played a big part in making Mom’s outcome so miraculous.  So many things happened along the way that had her doctors shaking their heads in amazement.  Her recoveries were so quick and complication free.  I guess Mom feels the supplements are helping because she is continuing to take them even though I’m not there to serve them up to her.

During that year of Mom’s trials, my brother, Michael, also got cancer.  He was diagnosed in May with aggressive lymphoma and he died September 19, 2009.  My Mom had to go through that trauma, too. He wouldn’t listen to me about taking any vitamins ever, either years ago or through his treatment.  He actually died cancer free, but couldn’t survive the opportunistic infections.

I don’t know whether vitamins would have made a difference or not.  To say we are saddened by his death is an understatement.  I can say we are full of gratitude and joy that our family experienced only one funeral this year and not two.

We are counting our blessings and they are too numerous to count!

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