Surgery and answers this afternoon

Today is the day we find out what the coming days, weeks, months, possibly years will hold.  At this moment I know that our hope clings to the chance that the doctor will walk out of the OR and claim it was just some weird, big, nasty benign mass.....all gone!  Then, hope clings next to him telling us it's stage 1.  Even Stage II, I know we can get my mom through and have a very GOOD chance of beating.

It's the other possibilities that have my stomach in knots and thoughts unsettled.  What if it is farther along?  Ovarian cancer is one of the hardest cancers to detect because it generally is detected once it has gotten to a more advanced stage.  Once symptoms appear, the cancer is usually pretty big.  It is highly ranked as a cause of death for women diagnosed with cancer for that reason alone and is counted in the top 4 when including all other diseases.  The Internet is full of such informative stuff.  Stuff I really wish we weren't needing to be informed about.

My mom has undergone many surgeries before, she has had 4 back operations and while kissing her as she went off to surgery was tough, we knew she'd be fine.  They were fixing a problem and would return her in better condition...kind of.  This time, it's going to be really tough to be brave, to kiss her and send her off with a smile.  This time they are finding the problem, how big the problem is and then coming out to tell us how well she can be fixed after surgery.

If you think of her or my family this afternoon, please pray for her.  Specifically, pray for the doctors to have steady hands and clear eyes, so that they can remove as much as is absolutely possible without causing any other internal damage.  Pray for my mom that she remains stable during surgery and comes through like the trooper she is.  Pray for peace in our hearts as we wait what will feel like an eternity for the doctor to come out and tell us what he found.  And pray that we all find the courage within to cope with and handle the results.

Today will either mark a new beginning, one we rejoice in and wipe our brow and celebrate that we can be certain of her future-or it will mark a new beginning, one which we may not fully know the outcome or how we will get there.

I'm taking a box of Kleenex with me.....and I remembered to forgo the mascara.  No need to look like a raccoon in the waiting room

Thank you all for your positive pray, your encouraging words, your support for my and my family.  I may continue to call on it, for it is one thing I know I can depend on.