La Salud!

Okay, soooooo I have 15 minutes of spare time before I go home. This is going to be the quickest post I've ever done, but it is a much awaited update.

Here we go.....

My mother:

Had 3-4 procedures
Was in the hospital for 5 days
Had her gull bladder removed
Had gull stones in her liver (hence so many  procedures)
Is now home, fully recovered and back at work

That is a very delayed update, I apologize.

My father:

Also home
Was in the hospital for 9 days
Has been diagnosed with Stage III A or B Colo-rectal cancer (mostly rectal)
Cancer was found in one lymph node
Is getting a chemo port put in tomorrow

Will have 3 stages of 8 week treatment

1. Once a week chemotherapy
2. Three times per week chemo and radiation
3. Once a week radiation (I think)

Is healing well, they usually wait 6 weeks to start treatment, but are able to start after only 5 weeks

So, I think that's all I know for now. As I said, I'm about to journey home and may be able to add more later. I will only be home for about seven hours though, because Derek and I are headed out to meet Jenn in Atlanta in the morning (my siblings for anyone who might not know). I don't have time for the story behind it right now (that I failed explain in Spanish), but will fill in the details later. It's officially been 15 minutes. 

Adios!

Don't Spit in the Sky

I've now learned not to post about something until it happens. My life changes so often that what I think will happen never really does. I don't want to complain, so I'm not going to. I can't decide if I'd rather try to get the help of my friends or not have to deal with people trying to tell me what to do. I am the type of person who likes to deal with things on my own terms. It's just not possible to pass along all my thoughts and emotions, so sometimes I just don't see the point in trying. From the moment 2012 started, it's been a true roller coaster and no one can really understand the ride from my point of view. On the other hand, I would be no where without my friends. I need as much support as I can get to conquer this year. Friday I didn't go play laser tag, but I had a decent time without the trouble. My first time horseback riding since I was 16 was great too, even though I am sore today, I need to find a way to do it more. If I don't go white water rafting on my birthday, it will be a great alternative.

In the past couple days, I've also spent a lot of time watching Netflix on demand. I don't typically watch TV at school unless my roommate puts something on. There are a few shows I follow on Hulu, but that allows me to not base my schedule off television programs. Meetings and classes already do that well enough. Netflix appeals to me in the same way Hulu does. I can watch what I want, when I want, and generally in whatever quantity I want. This does get me in a bit of trouble as a sucker for marathons. I moved on from Storage Wars to American Pickers and made it through 20 episodes. At this point, I fancy myself an amateur appraiser. I've been going around my house wondering how much our antiques are worth and trying to make a guess. Out on the road, I'm guessing which houses might have good collectables. It's really crazy, but it keeps me entertained and distracted from the other crazinesses.

We found out yesterday that my dad will need six months of chemotherapy and radiation five days a week. I can't believe how aggressive the treatment is. We are hoping that he won't start the treatment until May, when I can be home to go with him or help out where need be. I am just so confused as to why he needs so much therapy when the doctor said that it looked so good. This doesn't seem like first stage treatment to me. I don't have much experience with cancer though, so it's hard to tell. Right now I am just doing what needs to be done and hoping everything will work out. The catch is that nothing can ever be that easy...

Last night, my mom came home, told me she was having a gull bladder attack, asked me to get the rest of the groceries out of the trunk, and went to bed at 7:30. Today, I woke up and found out that she needed to go to the doctor. When she left with Derek, they were headed to the walk-in clinic, but now they're at the hospital. My mom has been emitted with stones in her gull bladder. How do I wind up with two parents in the hospital? I made a joke to my mom about all of them falling apart and now it's pretty true. I don't know what to do. Trying to make a choice that isn't selfish and will help my family without being a wasted effort is difficult.

Initially, I wanted to stay home to help out. I am supposed to leave for school today and have a lot to do up there, but I'm hesitant to leave. Little brother says he can handle it though, so I guess I'm going to go back. I'm nervous about it, but I am hoping things will go along alright without me. I won't be back here until the Wednesday before Easter for a night before my sibling trip to Atlanta. Really, I've never wanted to be home more. I'll be calling and texting nonstop to check in. It's just so much at once, that's all, but we have good people in our lives to help us through.

Ay Caramba!

Blogger-er?

So.... starting a blog is more of a mental challenge than anything. How do I start? When do I start? What language do I write in? What the heck do I write about? Yes, these have all been running rampant in my mind for the past few months. I'm so exhausted right now, so we'll see if I make it through my first post.

Today was an emotionally draining day. It consisted of eight hours at the hospital and fear, sadness, happiness, relief, and love. I truly can not believe how tired I am. But all in all, we got the best news we could hope for, My dad will most likely be cancer free because of this procedure. Expecting the worst, I still can't believe it. Seeing my dad in the hospital bed, hooked up in so many places, was made more bearable by the knowledge that he was mostly okay.



Annnnnnnnd I feel asleep mid-post....

One last thing I have to say about the cancer in this post. I can not express in words the emotion I felt in the first few minutes in the hospital room. My grandma and I were the first two to find the room and we had to wait while they moved him into the hospital bed. When we went in, I stood by the window while my grandma talked to him. He could barely talk himself because he was still groggy from the anesthesia and had a tube down his esophagus, but he turned slightly and said, "I love you, Brooke." I instantly traded places with my grandma, held his hand, hugged him, and cried. I can't even think about it now without tearing up and I can't say enough how glad I am that he's going to be okay. He'll be in the hospital for the rest of my spring break, but I am lucky his surgery fell when I could be home. When I first got the news a week and a half ago I wanted to be at home right then and I'm sure I would have tried to get home if it wasn't spring break. Yes, this whole entire emotional roller coaster for our family has gone on for a week and a half and hopefully will be over (minus a little more recovery time) on Friday. Wow! Still keep those positive thoughts flowing, people.

"I love you, too. I'm so glad you're okay!"

My own personal plug...To donate to my Relay for Life team, click here!

I will be walking as a virtual survivor for my dad and grandma.

Okay, so now, a little bit about why I decided to blog. I am going to the Dominican Republic this summer for five weeks to improve my Spanish and experience the culture. I like to document every detail of my life so that I forget nothing. Usually, Facebook satisfies this urge, along with my incessant picture taking, but I really wanted a more organized way to give all the details. Also, Facebook is a HUGE waste of time! I'm addicted, but I think I will be broken from that addiction this summer. I am already liking blogging better because I like to talk (as is no surprise to anyone) and I can just talk here without having to make it into a cute and snappy Facebook status. Unless I become addicted to blogging and start blogging non-stop, this can only be better, right? Plus, I have to actually go out and do things to blog about, which is very different from just sitting on Facebook.

Odds are, no one will want to read these blog posts, especially if they all are as long as this one. I considered writing something along a theme or writing about something really deep, but I would quickly give up on that. I also considered writing in Spanish so that I could improve my writing skills, bur that would make it difficult for anyone who might want to follow my journeys abroad. I may decide to switch or do both or start a Spanish blog as well, but this is where I am for now.

It was actually sort of my New Year's resolution to start blogging. I had it all set up, figured out what my password was (more effort than it should have been), and prepared to write my first post in the new year... but then, I had some things, that I'm not going to delve into, happen and really didn't want to write about it. So, this is my Everything is Going to be Totally Fine resolution to begin blogging. Today, I officially proclaim that 2012 is not going to suck anymore. Yay for entering the world of Blogger-ers!