Update on my mother.

My mom.

Is home.

I can’t believe it.

This has been the longest most grueling week. EVER.

I’m sorry I couldn’t update very much. We’ve been staying with our guardians and their sons. They had wireless, but I’m no good with tumblr on an iPod (for some reason my laptop WOULD NOT cooperate with their connection, so I had to use my sister’s iPod to get online).

ANYWAY,

So, all this week, we’ve been gone. We’ve had a lot of fun at the house we’d been staying at, but you know… it wasn’t home. We had to have our neighbors take care of our dogs and everyday we were driving an hour just to get to school and back. For once, I’m going to be glad to ride the bus tomorrow. So, that’s just a little update on me and Katy. But you don’t care about us. ;)

Mom.

This week, we’ve found out that her port (if you don’t know what that is, it’s kind of like the funnel in a cancer patient’s chest to get chemo dripped in them) got crushed. Don’t know how, but it was alllll sorts of jacked up. So, we needed to get that fixed. Mom had to get some crazy surgery for that. And the doctor’s got it fixed. Praise God.

Mom is home now. She’s slow and very weak and tired, BUT, she’s holding food down. If the cancer didn’t get to her in the hospital, I was almost sure starvation would. She couldn’t keep anything down and nothing tasted good to her. She’s coherent- can construct sentences. She’s joking around and being my MOM. Not some sickly old lady dying in a hospital bed.

Her legs and feet are SO swollen though. From laying in bed for a whole week. She has a little walker, so now she can get around the house with ease and maybe get her feet and legs back to normal.

We thought she’d be coming home with home-health, but she’s not. So it’s all on me and Katy. Pray for us to be stronger than ever now, but keep praying for mom. She’s improved so much over the week. :)

And I even got such an inspiring thing from her this evening. Okay, while she was in the hospital, she was so depressed and so negative and hated life (I blame all the pain medication she was on- she barely knew who she was). While she was laying in bed this evening (she was so happy to be in her OWN bed), she looked at me and said:

“You know, Chelsea… I’ve been getting up the past few mornings and I just stretch and stretch and stretch. And it reminded me.. an old vet told me something when I worked at a vet clinic back in the day… and he told me.. Whenever a dog or a kitty is hit by a car, and they survive, the ones that attempt to get up and stretch are the ones that make it. Every time.”

If that’s not uplifting, I don’t know what is. My mom is so strong and I believe she’s going to be the dog or kitty that makes it. Keep praying! Thanks for all of your prayers already! I just can’t believe the response I’ve been getting to this. Make sure to reblog this to get the word out to everyone. God is so good!!! ♥

(Source: thatchristiancracker)

Don’t quit praying, guys!!! Keep spreading the word about my mother. She still needs tons of prayer.

I should have an update up tonight, hopefully.

thatchristiancracker:

This is my mom. A.K.A: my world.

For a year, my mom was battling breast cancer. Stage 4. Which is bad. Real bad. She handled it like a papercut, though. The chemo knocked her off her feet only about 5 days each month. She was never really sick, or achy. She was a trooper. After 6 months of chemo, she had to get her boob lopped off and then radiation for a few months. After radiation, her hair started coming in, and she was planning to get dreads once it was long enough. “After what I’ve been through, I don’t care. I think I deserve to do whatever the heck I want”, she’d said.

Two months after her radiation was the best she’d felt in a long time. She cleaned the house, she would go out and shop. She felt amazing. But, then, she had to start taking some medicine to crack out her hormones to make sure the cancer didn’t come back. A rare side effect to this medicine was liver failure. Guess what?

It wasn’t rare with my mom. Of all the people, it had to get her. She now has grapefruit sized cysts on her liver. Her gall bladder also isn’t functioning right. She has a drain in it to reduce the inflammation and to get rid of all the bile filling up in it. Last night, I went to see her in the hospital, and as soon as I walked in, I wasn’t looking at my mom. It looked like I was looking at someone’s sick, dying grandmother. She barely could respond to anything I said, and she was hardly holding my hand. She was fighting to hang on to a few of my fingers. She’s in so much pain and misery. She’s been in the hospital for a few weeks now. It’s just me and my 17 year old sister at home. And I’m only 15. 16 in June.

Today, my pastor came to my house and explained that the cancer had come back. It had metastasized… this time, to her bones. My mother. My whole world. My everything now has stage 4 bone cancer. She started chemo back up today. Just when her hair was long enough to dread. Just when I though the storm had passed, I realized we’d only been in the eye of the hurricane and the worst was yet to come.

My pastor told me today that the only reason they were really doing chemo was to buy my mother more time.

As a 15 year old, this is hard to take. My dad died when I was 5, so mom has always been the dad. Mrs. Dad, as some would say. Or Mr. Mom. She’s the best multi-tasker EVER and has always been there for me. She bought me my first drum and bellset when I was in 6th grade. I’m a sophomore in high school now, and I play the drumset and I can confidently play the piano. All because of my mom. I’m a strong Christian now. Because my mom started taking me to my current church when I was six. I’m an aspiring artist now and plan to become a photographer once I’m out of school. Because my mom bought me my first camera. And she would always buy me new sketchpads whenever I asked. I know how to raise my children right whenever they come along now, because she has taught me and SHOWN me how to treat your children. She’s the one that made me laugh from all her tales of her adventures when she was younger. She’s the one that got me into the Beatles and E.L.O. and the Ramones. She’s the reason I know how to make coffee and wash the dishes. She’s the one that always tucked me in at night and would suck the bad dreams out of my head.

But now, this nightmare won’t go away. I don’t know what’s going to happen to my mom. And I can tell she’s scared to death. She’s not ready to go, and I’m not ready for her to go, either. I’d always had these silly plans for her (since my dad isn’t here) to walk me down the aisle.. for her to be my first dance after I’m married. But now.. I’m not too sure if I’ll even have that. I know God has given me one heck of a testimony, but I’m not ready. I’m just not ready to lose her yet. And she’s not ready to go. I believe God still has some work for her to do. But I can’t be too sure. I just need to keep my faith. But most of all, I need YOU to pray for her. Please. Reblog this, tell everyone you know. Request a prayer for her at church. I fully 100% believe in miracles. I keep hearing: “It’s not looking good, Chelsea.” But I don’t want to believe it. I’d rather believe Matthew 19:26. Please reblog. It would mean the world to me. Your prayer could save my mom. ♥

(via deathbypenguins)

Over 200 notes on my post about my mom. Thank you all sooo much for praying for us. Here’s an update.

My neighbor, Gayle (you’ll be hearing a lot about her, and my other neighbor Jan. They’ve been watching over us these past few weeks) just came down here from the hospital (the closest hospital is almost 2 hours away, so Katy (my sister) and I don’t get to see mom very much. And when we do, it’s one heck of a trip.) to update us on mom. She was very coherent and alert. Much more responsive than she was last night. The prayers are kicking in. We’ve been through chemo before, but this time it might be more severe. Gayle warned us that chemo will cause burns on mom’s extremities- her feet, her fingers, her nose, the tips of her ears. So, when she does come home, we’ll be good little daughters and soak those in cool water. (Well… maybe not soak her nose in a tub of cool water… that might cause a catastrophe).

Anyway, my spirits are brighter and higher at this point. To know so many people are praying for my mother is astounding. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop praying. Prayer is going to be the only thing keeping us all going. Spread the word to your family, friends, your congregation. We need to get a huge movement going to let my mom know that she’s going to get better. We’re going to get through this. We’ve got the Great Physician on our side, guys. Thanks again. All of you! ♥ ♥

This is my mom. A.K.A: my world.

For a year, my mom was battling breast cancer. Stage 4. Which is bad. Real bad. She handled it like a papercut, though. The chemo knocked her off her feet only about 5 days each month. She was never really sick, or achy. She was a trooper. After 6 months of chemo, she had to get her boob lopped off and then radiation for a few months. After radiation, her hair started coming in, and she was planning to get dreads once it was long enough. “After what I’ve been through, I don’t care. I think I deserve to do whatever the heck I want”, she’d said.

Two months after her radiation was the best she’d felt in a long time. She cleaned the house, she would go out and shop. She felt amazing. But, then, she had to start taking some medicine to crack out her hormones to make sure the cancer didn’t come back. A rare side effect to this medicine was liver failure. Guess what?

It wasn’t rare with my mom. Of all the people, it had to get her. She now has grapefruit sized cysts on her liver. Her gall bladder also isn’t functioning right. She has a drain in it to reduce the inflammation and to get rid of all the bile filling up in it. Last night, I went to see her in the hospital, and as soon as I walked in, I wasn’t looking at my mom. It looked like I was looking at someone’s sick, dying grandmother. She barely could respond to anything I said, and she was hardly holding my hand. She was fighting to hang on to a few of my fingers. She’s in so much pain and misery. She’s been in the hospital for a few weeks now. It’s just me and my 17 year old sister at home. And I’m only 15. 16 in June.

Today, my pastor came to my house and explained that the cancer had come back. It had metastasized… this time, to her bones. My mother. My whole world. My everything now has stage 4 bone cancer. She started chemo back up today. Just when her hair was long enough to dread. Just when I though the storm had passed, I realized we’d only been in the eye of the hurricane and the worst was yet to come.

My pastor told me today that the only reason they were really doing chemo was to buy my mother more time.

As a 15 year old, this is hard to take. My dad died when I was 5, so mom has always been the dad. Mrs. Dad, as some would say. Or Mr. Mom. She’s the best multi-tasker EVER and has always been there for me. She bought me my first drum and bellset when I was in 6th grade. I’m a sophomore in high school now, and I play the drumset and I can confidently play the piano. All because of my mom. I’m a strong Christian now. Because my mom started taking me to my current church when I was six. I’m an aspiring artist now and plan to become a photographer once I’m out of school. Because my mom bought me my first camera. And she would always buy me new sketchpads whenever I asked. I know how to raise my children right whenever they come along now, because she has taught me and SHOWN me how to treat your children. She’s the one that made me laugh from all her tales of her adventures when she was younger. She’s the one that got me into the Beatles and E.L.O. and the Ramones. She’s the reason I know how to make coffee and wash the dishes. She’s the one that always tucked me in at night and would suck the bad dreams out of my head.

But now, this nightmare won’t go away. I don’t know what’s going to happen to my mom. And I can tell she’s scared to death. She’s not ready to go, and I’m not ready for her to go, either. I’d always had these silly plans for her (since my dad isn’t here) to walk me down the aisle.. for her to be my first dance after I’m married. But now.. I’m not too sure if I’ll even have that. I know God has given me one heck of a testimony, but I’m not ready. I’m just not ready to lose her yet. And she’s not ready to go. I believe God still has some work for her to do. But I can’t be too sure. I just need to keep my faith. But most of all, I need YOU to pray for her. Please. Reblog this, tell everyone you know. Request a prayer for her at church. I fully 100% believe in miracles. I keep hearing: “It’s not looking good, Chelsea.” But I don’t want to believe it. I’d rather believe Matthew 19:26. Please reblog. It would mean the world to me. Your prayer could save my mom. ♥

I need some major prayer up in here. PLEASE DON’T READ OVER THIS. Reblog, please.

There’s a girl that goes to my school, Page. She’s a junior. Last April, she had a baby. His name is Ian. And he’s the cutest little boy ever. Her boyfriend, John John stuck around. They were ready for a baby. He graduated in May and ever since, he’s had a job and has taken care of Ian while Page was at school.

This morning at 4, John John was playing video games with his buddies. All of a sudden, he started seizing and foaming at the mouth. They flew him to the nearest hospital, but he was already gone.

My heart is breaking. For all three. Ian doesn’t have a father. Page doesn’t have support now. He was the only thing she had left. I just need all of you to pray for them. God will pull her through. I know. it. ♥

Only God can turn a mess into a message. A test into a testimony. A trial into a triumph. A victim into a victory. ♥

(Source: thatchristiancracker)

i’m so confused right now. please, please, please pray for me.

Hi. I’m here to cheer you up.

This isn’t a post about how wonderful my life is.

Nor is it boasting about anything.

I’m going to tell you my story.

I was born in June in ‘96. I’m still young and have my whole life ahead of me.

I’m only 15, but I’ve been through some stuff, some kids my age wouldn’t want to imagine. But some of them have had it worse than me.

When I was 5 years old, my father died. He had liver cancer. I didn’t really comprehend death when I was that age, but I knew he wasn’t coming back, so it made me really sad. Now that I’m older, I’m looking back on it, and it can’t help but make me sad. I mean, he won’t see me graduate, and he won’t get to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day. I’ll have to tell my kids the reason they don’t have a grandpa. It’s just strange to think about an older male living here- being in my life AND to hear my friends tell stories that involve their dads. It’s just a foreign concept to me- a dad. Because I don’t remember mine.

In 4th grade, my best friend and life-long crush, Matt died. He was sleepwalking and fell off his balcony- landed on his dining room table. Gruesome, right? He was in the hospital for a few days, but then his mother took him off life support. I was so heartbroken, I couldn’t fathom life without him. He was my best friend and I loved him as much as a 4th grader could love someone of the opposite gender.

Sometime after that, my grandparents died, but I really didn’t know them all that well, so it didn’t affect me all that much. But a while after that, I was diagnosed with skin cancer. It wasn’t life threatening or anything. No. But, it was something that young girls usually don’t get. Basil cell carcinoma. That’s the stuff old people get. Even worse, it was on my face. I got surgery to remove it, but for the longest time I had this huge, ugly dark scar right by my nose. I thought it would never go away.

When junior high came around, I was getting more picked on than ever. The “popular crowd” wasn’t nice to me. Not one bit. It’s not like I lived for their approval, but it bothered me when they had to go out of their way to make a rude remark. Needless to say, I hated junior high. But, really, who doesn’t?

By the time high school rolled around, I didn’t like myself. The way I looked, the way I acted. I don’t know. I just, didn’t like it. In October of ‘10, my mom broke the news to my sister and I that she had breast cancer. It wasn’t serious or anything, but it was still scary- my mom has a life-threatening cancer nibbling away at her boob. It’s kind of scary, don’t you think?

She started chemo-treatments in November. Her hair started falling out in December. Chemo was running her down. Most people going through chemo get terribly sick. But mom was always just tired. In December, my marching band mates and I were headed t other big city to compete in a Christmas parade. Halfway there, my cousin texted me that she couldn’t show up (we had plans to hang out after the parade) because my grandfather (my other one; my dad’s side) had just passed away. I was a little more closer to him than my other grandparents, so I couldn’t help but be terribly sad.

This is where the story gets better, though.

In January of ‘11, I got asked to homecoming by the boy I’d liked since school began that year. And in March, he asked me to be his girlfriend. It all starts to get better from here. My mom’s chemo treatments ended in April, she got her surgery in May, and her radiation treatments started in June. I had a great summer, I got to go on a Church of God choir tour with kids from across my state, and I got to witness my boyfriend come to God and get baptized.

This is when I started to notice a change. Dylan, my boyfriend had opened my eyes.

Somehow, I don’t know how, but somehow… he managed to make me realize that I was beautiful. And that smiling is necessary to a good life. Laughter is vital. And love is mandatory.

I also realized how much God loved me. It never really hit me until recently that God is head over heels for me. So, I straightened up, I started being hardcore about living for Him.

What I’m trying to get at here is this:

I’ve had a rough life- it hasn’t been easy. But someone has shown me what love is. Don’t reject it when someone compliments you. Except it. Smile when the sun isn’t shining because it can brighten someone’s day. You’re beautiful. Your life can be magnificent if you focus on the positives instead of the negatives.

Be yourself. Don’t let anyone affect you negatively, only positively.

Good vibes are all you need.

Put God first. And if you don’t know Him, get to know Him. Your life will be so much better.

This isn’t a pity post, because like I said, people have it way worse than me. My life, compared to some, has been wonderful. And I wouldn’t ask for anything different. I love my life now. But just remember this when you get into an argument with your brother or sister, mom or dad. That they love you. And God loves you. And you’re an amazing person. You’re you for a reason.

Embrace it.

(Source: thatchristiancracker)