Round Two

You prayed and He heard you.

My mom was never expected to make it two weeks and here we are at nearly two years. 

She is a miracle of a woman and my family has been so blessed. 

The reality of it is, her cancer just couldn't get enough.

It just HAD to test her strength yet again and come back for round 2. 

I just thought I hated cancer before, now hate doesn't even begin to describe it.

Fighting cancer the first time is nothing like fighting it the second time.

 Chemotherapy is taking every bit of energy left in her body and destroying it. 

The nausea can be overwhelming. 

She has now lost the hair she was so proud to grow back for a second time. 

I can't imagine what my mother goes through on a daily basis, but I know one thing...

she is by far the strongest person I know. 

What I am asking to each and every person who reads this today is to START PRAYING.

Pray for strength for my mother to endure every Friday of chemo and a quick recovery of its side effects.

Pray for healing in this battle with cancer yet again. 

This cancer just doesn't know who it's up against. 

365 Days of Prayer

A year ago on this exact day, my mom was hospitalized and discovered she had breast cancer growing throughout her body--including 4 large tumors in her brain. A YEAR ago, my sisters and I were told to prepare ourselves because my mom wasn't supposed to make it through the week. A year ago, I was packing my bags and moving home for Spring semester, leaving the classes I just started behind. On this day an entire year ago, our world came crashing down and I just knew our lives would never be the same.

In the span of one year, the roller-coaster of emotions we experienced as a family were unbelievable. My mom fought her cancer with every ounce of strength she had. She lost her hair to cancer and wig shopping became a new favorite hobby! She loved food for the first time in too long. She made new friends everywhere she went--EVERYWHERE. She got closer to God with each passing day and spent her hours of sleepless nights in prayer. Each day was filled with uncertainty, so we lived each one to it's fullest. 

In the last year, our family knit itself tighter than ever before. My mom grew every sprout of her hair back AND more. My mom was able to be standing at the finish line of my 60 mile Susan Komen breast cancer walk and cheer me to the very end. My mom was able to watch my little sister twirl at nearly every football game. My mom has been able to go with my older sister to doctor's appointments and watch her future grandchild turn flips on the sonogram. She has been able to give back to people, like they have given to her. My mom was, in fact, there for Thanksgiving AND Christmas and felt much better than she has in some time.The tumors in my mom's brain shrunk down to nearly nothing and her stage 4 cancer has considered to be in remission for the past six months. 

My mom never gave up and look how far we have come in a year. We have come farther than I, my family, or any doctors ever expected. Thank you to everyone who prayed for my mom, she is walking proof of its power. I know that we will not only have this year but many more years to come. As a family, we have to make cancer a thing of the past and put joy into every day of our future.