Grandma Update

My grandmother was diagnosed with bone cancer on Monday, and needless to say, this has been a very difficult week for her and my family. Grandma is one of my absolute favorite people in this world. With this soon-to-be-89-year-old, you will find a charismatic, imaginative, opinionated, and laugh-out-loud hilarious woman. If you're in a room with her, and she's talking, you're guaranteed an entertaining story, and more than likely, she'll have you laughing so hard you're crying.

Because I've grown up in the same town as Grandma, she's always been around. Friday nights when Chris and I were younger, you could find us at Grandma and Grandan's house. And it was almost guaranteed that Chris and I would be loaded up with popsicles, Tang, shoesting potatoes, frozen Hy-Top pizza, and eating Cool Whip out of the container. Heck, we might have just renamed Grandma's house "The Sugar Shack!!" I thank Grandma for my love of all things television. At Grandma's house, we were going to watch something good. Talk shows, Mama's Family, Wheel of Fortune, cartoons, game shows, we watched them all! And every Sunday after church, our family headed to Grandma's house to eat lunch and visit. Every Sunday. I loved going over there and watching football, reading the newspaper, and chatting with Grandma. I will always cherish our weekends we spent together.

I think that's what makes a diagnosis like this so difficult. Grandma has ALWAYS been a part of my life. She's ALWAYS been there. I've grown up with her, and she's become the fifth member of our family. Especially once she moved in with my parents almost five years ago.

One thing I know about Grandma though is that she is one tough cookie. She has been living in pain for quite some time, and while we are thankful to finally have a diagnosis, we certainly wish it wasn't the one given to us. But you know what? Things happen for a reason. God has a plan for all of us, and while that's hard to understand in the present, we have to keep faith that things will turn out as they're supposed to. Has this week been difficult? You bet. Have I bawled my eyes out on more than one occasion? Of course. Am I sad that my grandmother's bones have succumbed to this horrible, horrible disease? More than you can imagine. But I am also SO very grateful for prayers that have been sent her way and the outpouring of love and encouragement we have received. I have asked some of you to pray for her continued sense of humor and for her spirit to not be diminished, and I am happy to report that those prayers have been answered.

She is having surgery tomorrow (Friday) at noon to have a rod implanted in her left leg because the cancer in her femur has made her bone so brittle that it will soon break without reenforcement. The doctor will also perform a biopsy at the same time, and we'll have more information after those results come back.

As I mentioned, yesterday she was in much better spirits, and for that, I am so unbelievably grateful. I know that God answered yours and my prayers, and here is proof that her sense of humor has not diminished: As of yesterday morning, she was still contemplating whether to have the rod surgery or not. Here’s Grandma's conversation with the oncologist yesterday in her hospital room:

Grandma: Doc, I have a question for you. If it were YOUR mother in my shoes, would you still recommend to her that she have the surgery to implant the rod?

Doctor: (thinks for a second) If it were my mother, I would tell her the same thing, that she needs the surgery.

Grandma: Well then doc, since you said that, I have another important question I need to ask you: How do you feel about your mother?!

Isn’t that hilarious? Ah, good ol’ GM! Gotta love her!!!! :) I'll wrap this up by asking you to pray for strength for her and my family, wisdom on the part of her doctors, and courage for her as she faces this. Thank you so, so very much for all your support and prayer. Please know that it means the world to us.