Life was cruising along OK, our year was getting better and then at the end of June a phone call from my step dad had my world crashing around me, mom was in the Emergency Room. She had been complaining about pain in her leg for a while and it kept getting worse, Her doctor brushed it off that it was nothing. She had gotten to the point that walking was getting very tough and she was going to go back to the Dr. She had gone into her motor home to get some stuff out of the fridge after having family visit and when she was coming out of the motor home her Femur snapped. She couldn't move and it was very hard for the paramedics to get her out of the motor home. They took her less then a mile away to the local hospital to stabilize her before being transferred to Kaiser an hour away. The next day they started to talk about surgery. Her pain was intense. It turned out that the cancer she had in 2013 that bore a hole trough her skull and wrapped around her brain stem had returned and had grown til it went all the way through the bone. They set her up for surgery to repair the leg. After the surgery started dad and I went downstairs to get something to eat, while we were eating the Dr came and found us. He was unfamiliar with mom's cancer but luckily his nurse wasn't. Mom has a very rare form of cancer called Hemangiopericytoma and this cancer can cause excessive bleeding which means that before surgery they have to do extra scans and a pre surgery procedure to minimize the bleeding. They put her into a different kind of traction and woke her up. When they let dad and I into her she was crying so hard, it broke our hearts. The nurse told us that she thought she had been in an accident and that she also thought that she had hurt my dad and their dog(as she is the primary driver). Turned out that when mom started waking up she asked the nurse what had happened(mom does not take anesthesia well). The nurse thinking mom had fallen and broke her leg told her she had had an "accident" instead of a planned surgery and mom had created a very vivid memory in her head, even after seeing us she had trouble believing that she had not hurt anyone. I NEVER WANT TO SEE MY MOM LIKE THAT AGAIN! It was horrible. After more tests and scans and mistakes she finally went in for surgery 4 days after breaking her leg. We instructed the nurses that if she asked they were ONLY to tell her that she had had a planned surgery, NOTHING ELSE! They put a rod in from hip to knee. She was finally able to start healing. Mom doesn't remember much from being in the hospital, between the anesthesia and medication they had her on she didn't know much of what was going on and a few times didn't even know who dad and I were. About 2 days after surgery she went to rehab and improved quickly there. After 2 weeks she walked out of rehab to go home. Now we could start treating the cancer. She ended up having a second spot of cancer in her rib. She was treated with 10 days of radiation and then started chemo. Unfortunately her cancer is so rare that her Dr doesn't really know how to treat it she is treating her with 2 different kinds of Chemo every other week, hoping it will work. She is still being treated and the cancer is getting smaller but it is still there. Her leg has been getting more pain in it again and she will see a surgeon this week(a new one as her's just retired)
In August mom was doing well enough that I went to WI with my aunt to help my other aunt who had recently also gone trough treatments for cancer and still was recouping. She is an amazing woman too. She cared for my grandparents for years putting her own life on hold. Both of my grandparents have passed away now and she is still working her butt off and then got sick. What did she do? She went through treatments and still worked her butt off. She didn't have much free time and things still needed gone through after both of my grandparents passing. So my aunt and I went back to help go through, pack and purge things. We were working a lot but I really enjoyed being there with them. Half way through my stay my husband's first cousin and one of his best friend who was only in his 50's passed away. We were all still in shock when 3 days later my husband's oldest sister passed away, she was also in her 50's. I had to cut my trip short and come home, my husband and boys needed me. Her service was perfect. Sometime after that I found out that my cousin's husband had passed away too. I guess they always say that things come in 3's.
In September things had started to calm down a bit again but then on the morning of October 9th everything spiraled for not just us but a lot of Northern CA. We had strong winds and fires sparked up in the middle of the night and blew out of control, burning through the towns and homes, waking people from their sleep and sending them running with nothing but the shirts on their backs. Mom and I could not see each other for almost 2 weeks being separated by fires and road blocks. 202,921 acres burned in just Sonoma, Napa, Solono, Lake and Medicino Counties alone. 220,049 Total acres burned in Northern CA. We personally knew 33 families who lost their homes and are starting over. We were lucky, we were only slightly effected and not directly at home. Mom was also safe though she had to venture out through the fire areas at least a couple times a week because of her cancer treatment. Driving out through the burn areas made you feel like you were in a war zone. Homes, Stores, Businesses, Landmarks, all gone. The fires burned so hot and so fast that within hours our city looked like....well it didn't look like our city anymore. We are slowly recovering from the fires, the black hills have become green, properties are being cleared and some rebuilding has even just started in some areas. In the wake of our fires southern CA has now had their share of fires, the largest being in the Los Angeles. The southern fires have now burned over 281,900 acres and are still burning.
Through this year one of my son's has had a lot of health issues and missed a lot of school. he has been through a lot of tests and tried on many different medications in hopes of him feeling better. We have yet to have a specific diagnosis. It is hard seeing your kid sick and not being able to fix him.
Looking into the New Year I have been hearing the word HOPE used a lot, people are hopeful for so much. As I look into the New Year I am hopeful. I have seen so many people affected from the fires and they are not letting it get them down, they are looking ahead to the future, finding homes, rebuilding lives and coming out stronger then they were before, they are all full of hope. Looking at my personal life and family I am also hopeful, hopeful for my mom's health and that the Chemo gets rid of the cancer and her leg keeps getting stronger, I am hopeful that my son's health improves. I am hopeful that my aunt stays strong and healthy. I am hopeful that our families hearts heal from all the losses of last year. I had a lot of friends who suffered their own losses, and trials this last year and I am hopeful for all of them too. I am hopeful for a better brighter year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
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