Clumsy & Cancer

Sunday night, one of the things we dread & fear most happened.

Jay was changing our bed linens & I decided to get something from our closet across the room. I simply was not paying attention. It only took a moment-a split second to change the course of an entire night...week...who knows how long...

My right foot became entangled in the bedding on the floor & in an instant I was face down on the ground crying & writhing in some of the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. Immediately, Jay was on the ground next to me trying to assess the damages. All I could do was whisper “help us Jesus. Please help.” I couldn’t breathe & it took several minutes for jay to be able to roll me over to check the tumor situation. He noticed blood on my clothes & called our hospice to send someone out. After several more minutes Jay was able to get me into the bed & begin to see what tumor damage we were dealing with. He began unwrapping bandages & dressings & each layer was blood soaked. We truly feared the worst. The tumor, which measures approximately 8” across x 6” top to bottom. It sticks out of my abdome at least 6”, has surprisingly delicate tissues. As Jay removed the final dressing layer I heard him say “thank you God!” The bleeding had completely stopped. This has never happened before. With the amount of blood soaking the dressings, Jay truly thought he would be dealing with a fatal bleed. As Jay cleaned the tumor, the mantra on his lips was “thank you God!”

The nurse arrived as Jay was finishing the tumor cleaning. She assessed my vitals & damages. My back was bruised & swollen & I was still having a difficult time breathing. My ribs & area surrounding the tumor were very painful. My knee was bruised & swollen. Thankfully nothing appeared broken.

The adrenaline began to wear off & I began to shake uncontrollably. While the nurse went out to get ice packs, Jay put blankets in the dryer so I’d have warm blankets to combat the shivering & ice packs.

My back & knee are still very painful & not tolerating much in the form of bearing weight. Jay escorts me whenever I need to get up.

Today, we met with my nurse. For the past few weeks, we’ve been dealing with an increase in lymphedema fluid building up. We have increased the dose of diuretics, however, they haven’t proven helpful yet. My lower body is quite swollen with fluid & now the upper & lower lobes of my right lungs have fluid in them.

It’s been a very trying week, but the words on our lips continue to be “thank you God...thank you Jesus !” No matter how great the pain, we cannot ignore His hand of protection covering us.
I have always said that when my time come to fly away home, I want it to be a peaceful event. Thinking that it may end traumatically Sunday night really frightened me & Jay.

So, for now I’m only allowed out of bed with assistance & ice packs are my new bff’s. Clumsy & Cancer are a bad combination!

Blessings,
Mandy