Why I stand up

Did you see the Stand Up to Cancer event that aired last Friday night?

Did you make your donation yet?

I want to tell you why I have.

Two years ago, in January of 2006, my Mom went in for a routine hysterectomy. She previously had been diagnosed with polyps and fibroids, and they had reached a size where they'd become troublesome and (not remembering all of the details at this point) the decision was made to do a hysterectomy, as she was no longer of childbearing age.

Only when they went in to do the surgery, they found the worst situation possible.

My mother was diagnosed with a Uterine Leiomyosarcoma, and there was a grapefruit-sized tumor growing outside her uterus. We were told it was inoperable, as the tumor had grown around the arteries that supplied blood to that organ. The doctor said she could bleed to death on the operating table if he were to attempt the surgery.

He gave her six months to live.

I remember feeling dumbfounded, to hear this about my mother. Worse yet was the idea that I had to call each of my three brothers and tell them. Sharing that grief with them just about broke my heart.

After recovering from that surgery that essentially did nothing (everything was "left in place" due to the delicate location of the tumor) she came home and prepared to wait for the end.

I became a researching fool. I Googled myself silly, each time finding more information that made me feel lower and more pessimistic. Between Tom and I, one of us found that the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota had experts in these rare sarcomas, and I think it was Tom that found one at Northwestern. We were determined to get her a second opinion!

To say we forced her to go is no understatement. Believing she should die during any attempt to remove the tumor, she fought us...angrily. She wanted to spend her time left in this life loving her family and making the most of what little time she had, but the rest of us were not willing to accept a "roll over and play possum" mentality. A few weeks later, we all but pushed her into that car, and Tom drove her to Chicago to see a doctor that ultimately delivered the first glimmer of hope.

This doc believed it was possible to surgically remove Mom's tumor, and in fact, there was a doctor in our area he referred Mom to see. Later that same week, she got an appointment to see Dr. Peter Johnson at Aurora West Allis Medical Center, and with his reassurance that he felt the surgery would be successful, the operation was scheduled.

On March 2, 2006, Mom underwent surgery to remove the tumor, her uterus and ovaries, as well as surrounding lymph nodes and tissue for testing. That testing and subsequent MRIs showed that the cancer had not spread as the doctors had feared.

Much of 2006 is a blur to me now. This second, life-saving surgery was not her last. The complications that came with each were minor in comparison to the quality of life she has now, but know that all her cancer was removed in that one surgery. Everything that happened after that was due to side-effects of having surgery so close to her bladder, and other hardships that come from such drastic tissue and organ removal. She was in and out of the hospital many times that year.

In the spring of '06, Nick was just over a year old. Hubs worked second shift and I worked first, as we do now, but I went to see Mom every day she was in the hospital, Nicholas in tow. I had no idea how powerful the vision of a tiny little boy could be, toddling into her hospital room with a big smile on his face, day after day.

When Aurora contacted her asking if she'd be willing to make a commercial about her experiences to be broadcast on a local station during last week's showing of the Stand Up To Cancer program, she didn't hesitate to say "yes." In fact, she called me, asking if my boys could be in the commercial with her.

I'm having a little trouble getting the video in a decent format and getting it uploaded, but I'll edit this post as soon as I do. Just know that I cry every time I see that 90 second spot, and hear her call my boys "angels" who gave her the incentive to never give up hope.

I cry every time I think of two friends who, within the last four months, both lost their Moms to cancer.

I cry every time I read another story just like mine. And there are too many.

PLEASE - make a donation today if you haven't already.

We need to Stand Up to this disease.