Update on my mom (see first post for initial story, last for update)

[TheMarti]

This is copied directly from my Facebook notes, so here is the jist of what's going on.

From Facebook:

Yesterday, I was in my church's production of "Light." I played in the orchestra, and it was a really cool outreach experience. I got to play on the stage at the Luhrs Center, something I never thought I'd get to do. It was pretty cool; we had a full house both shows, making it the largest crowd I'd ever played for.

Anyway, after the 2 o'clock show, my world was totally flipped upside down... and not in a good way. My Aunt Michelle had called and left a message on my cell phone, telling me to call her back as soon as possible. I did so, and she said "Where are you, Mart?" I told her I was on campus, why? "Well, your uncle's at your house."

Now, at first I didn't get this. I was thinking, why the heck do I care that my uncle is at my mom's house? She's not there, she's been in the hospital for over a week at this point. Then she said it again, and I realized that no, he wasn't at my mom's house. He was at MY house, here in Shippensburg.

At this point, I snapped. I started asking all kinds of questions. I freaked out. All she would tell me is that they found something, and then she gave me my Uncle Danny's number and told me to call him so he could find me.

Now, to update you if you didn't know, my mom has been in and out of the hospital since mid-August. She's had numerous surgeries and tests. So, this totally freaked me out... I had no idea what they meant (even though I had a gut feeling that turned out to be right), and I called my Uncle Danny and directed him to campus. I found him, we walked to his car, and halfway there I demanded to know what was going on.

"Your mom has cancer."

I freaked at this point. Cancer? Again? No. Not again, please not again....

If you don't remember (or know), my grandma passed away because of a brain tumor earlier this year.

So, here's what I got from my Uncle Danny. Basically, this time when Mom went into the hospital, they found fluid in her abdominal cavity that is called ascites. Anyway, they drained the liquid and tested it. They found cancer cells in the liquid. This still bears the question: Where is it? They cannot find it at all. They have multiple doctors working around the clock trying to figure this all out. She started chemo yesterday on her whole abdominal region, just trying to zap wherever it's at.

My stepfather, aunt, and uncle were going to wait to tell me until after my finals, and had decided to on Thursday. Yesterday morning, when my mom was actually coherent (she's on morphine for pain. Yes, I realize that this story just continues to get worse), she demanded (cause that's how my mom rolls) that someone tell me, because she'd promised to never ever delay with telling me bad news again. So, my Uncle Danny drove 300 miles to come talk to me.

Honestly, I knew something was really wrong. My stepdad, who I don't speak to, called me with my mom's phone the other day to tell me she was getting more testing done. Then, that afternoon, my Aunt Michelle called to see when my finals were over. Then, Uncle Danny shows up. Hello? I know something's super wrong at this point. I'm really glad they wanted to tell me face-to-face, but you know, had my Uncle Danny shown up at my door with no warning, I believe that I would have passed out. Honestly, when Aunt Michelle told me Uncle Danny was here, I thought my mom had died.

Anyway, as far as I know, my brother doesn't know yet. Louie is supposed to tell him before I come home. My thought is, if my mom's staying in the hospital, I'm not coming fully home. I'm glad scranton's only 2.5 hours away, cause I may be making regular trips if she's stayin there too. *shrug* I don't know.

What you can pray for.
1. Healing. Now, I say healing because God says we receive not because we ask not. So please, pray for healing for my mom.
2. But ultimately, above that, for God's Will to be done and for Him to be glorified.
3. For strength for me. I'm exhausted, and really not sure what I'm feeling right now.
4. For strength for my family. There's several people we haven't told yet (my mom's best friends Carol and Maria, my Uncle Frank and Aunt Barb, who are going to freak out (that's my grandma's closest brother and sister-in-law), and my brother. These people need strength too.
5. For words for me, to be able to shine the light of Jesus to my family in this time of deep darkness.

I love you guys. Please keep me in prayer.

~Marti

[3-Liner And Bags Of Chips]

I will most definitly pray for you Marti. I pray that everything goes well with this. I know you are strong enough to get through this situation, for better or worse. I am here if you need to talk too.

[Korunks]

I will pray for you too Marti, my mom had a bout with cancer too, I know how it feels.  Stay Strong, we will be praying for you.

[Red]

praying at this exact moment.

[TheMarti]

I realized I haven't updated this, but I'm relieved that I don't have to tell the whole story again.

In February, my mom went for a second opinion at UPenn. The doctor told her that the hospital in Scranton was doing everything that they were supposed to be doing. The cancer is very advanced. They thought that they would be able to contain it using chemo, which they had been doing since she was diagnosed with cancer.

I went up to visit while she was in the hospital having her round of chemo in March, and this was told to me then by a family friend. At this point, they thought that she would live a good long while as long as they could contain it. Problem was, it was already starting to spread a little bit.

That round of chemo was especially difficult on my mom, and the doctors said that, if they decided to continue treatment, it was probably going to kill her. They made the decision to stop treatment and place my mom in hospice care.

When this happened (March 14th), they didn't give us a timeline, but honestly, the cancer is very aggressive and is spreading. My mom is on meds to alleviate symptoms and stuff.

As strange as its been, I feel like God has given me a lot of insight through this whole thing. When she got sick in August, I knew it was cancer. When she was finally diagnosed, I knew she was going to die, even though I wasn't sure whether it would be this round or it would do what happened to my grandma (she went in remission and then it came back violently). Now, even though I would like her to be around long enough to know I've graduated, I have this feeling that its only a couple of weeks. I graduate on May 7th.

Pray for...
1. The rest of my family and our friends. This includes my stepdad, brother, stepgrandfather, uncles and aunt, and a lot of community friends who we've known for a long time. It's a big deal, and it's affecting a lot of people.
2. My mom, that she doesn't suffer, and that she goes home peacefully. That she knows I'm going to be okay.
3. Me. This leaves me in a strange situation. Honestly, my mom is my only biological family left (other than an aunt and uncle and my brother). I'm essentially "orphaned" because of this. One of my dear friends from my small group at church is taking me in after I graduate (my lease runs out at the end of May) for awhile. Between losing my grandma last year and now losing my mom, I'm not doing well. I have good days and bad days. The past 3 days have been wonderful, but before that I was having sleeping issues. This whole thing has torn me apart. Just pray that I have the strength to go forward and continue. My mom insists that I graduate on time, so therefore I am continuing my studies, as hard as it is to keep doing so.

Thanks for your prayers, love, and concern.

In His Love and For His Glory Always,
Marti 

[Red]

that's bad marti praying.

[TheKarazyvicePresidentRR]

Praying marti, hang in there.

[metalpsalm]

I'm so sorry. Grace

[New Raven BR]

idk if this is true but, try giving her alot of brocolli, i think it's a cancer fighter, idk
im praying hard for you and your family marti!

[Korunks]

Continuing our prayers, both me and my wife.  God be with you Marti.

[3-Liner And Bags Of Chips]

I'm praying for you sista. I'm here for ya. You need anything, hit me up and i'll do my best to help out. You and your family are in my prayers