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Hi friends,
I've been out of town and out of touch for a month. My mom died unexpectedly on Nov 29. She had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in June and had undergone several rounds of chemo to shrink the tumors. She was undergoing surgery at the Mayo Clinic to remove the remaining tumors when her heart failed and they were unable to resuscitate her. It's been very difficult, especially since everyone's hopes were so high that she would have had several more years to enjoy life after the surgery. It was a big milestone, the goal everyone had been working towards. We were braced for the possible news that the surgeon would decide the cancer was inoperable, but we never anticipated that she might not survive the surgery. And with some justification -- in the thousands of surgeries this surgeon has done, this is the first time he had someone die on the operating table. So why her? There is no answer. My dad is devastated. It's been a hard, hard month, especially with Christmas. Though we're basically a happy family, so there's been lots of laughter as well, interspersed with the tears.
I'm back in California now. One of my brothers has taken over helping our dad. My other brother is flying out to Minnesota in a few days, then the three of them will be driving down to Arizona where my parents have been wintering the past few years. We're glad he's decided he can deal with going, because they have a lot of friends down there and it won't be as lonely and isolated as the house on the lake is in Minnesota. Life will go on.
Anyhow, if you posted something in the last month that you think I'd enjoy reading, please point me to it (really, I mean it). Oh, and M and I are still having our usual New Year's Eve party (tomorrow, yikes!), so if you're in the area, come on by.
I've been out of town and out of touch for a month. My mom died unexpectedly on Nov 29. She had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in June and had undergone several rounds of chemo to shrink the tumors. She was undergoing surgery at the Mayo Clinic to remove the remaining tumors when her heart failed and they were unable to resuscitate her. It's been very difficult, especially since everyone's hopes were so high that she would have had several more years to enjoy life after the surgery. It was a big milestone, the goal everyone had been working towards. We were braced for the possible news that the surgeon would decide the cancer was inoperable, but we never anticipated that she might not survive the surgery. And with some justification -- in the thousands of surgeries this surgeon has done, this is the first time he had someone die on the operating table. So why her? There is no answer. My dad is devastated. It's been a hard, hard month, especially with Christmas. Though we're basically a happy family, so there's been lots of laughter as well, interspersed with the tears.
I'm back in California now. One of my brothers has taken over helping our dad. My other brother is flying out to Minnesota in a few days, then the three of them will be driving down to Arizona where my parents have been wintering the past few years. We're glad he's decided he can deal with going, because they have a lot of friends down there and it won't be as lonely and isolated as the house on the lake is in Minnesota. Life will go on.
Anyhow, if you posted something in the last month that you think I'd enjoy reading, please point me to it (really, I mean it). Oh, and M and I are still having our usual New Year's Eve party (tomorrow, yikes!), so if you're in the area, come on by.
