Amos is feeling a little better today.  We celebrate any good news around here!

My sister, Phoebe and her husband Ken, brought over an electric recliner last night from my other sister Carrie’s house. It helps him sleep better and we are so grateful.

Amos had his first visit today from a home health nurse.  His nurse, Jason, seemed a little shocked by Amos’s bruising from the hematoma.  It is pretty scary looking, but it hasn’t changed much from yesterday so that is a good sign.  We were more concerned about the blood blisters under the tape on the incision sites so we had Jason call Dr. Gimbel about those.  They said he could cut off the ends where they are causing the irritation.  Jason didn’t want to do it himself for liability reasons.  We changed one yesterday ourselves and it seemed to help a lot with the pain.  We might end up replacing the others too.  His skin is really sensitive to something they used.  Home health nurses will continue to come to the house twice a week for 3 weeks to make sure everything is healing up alright and assist him with the ostomy care.

This journey has been difficult for me because it is too familiar.  Five years ago my mom, who, like Amos, never complains of pain or discomfort, ended up in the emergency room with severe abdominal pain.  This woman who had 9 children without a single epidural was one of the great ones.  Her radiance, optimism and goodness were beacons of light to everyone around her.

We got the word that they had found a large mass in her abdomen that was stopping her from eating and tests confirmed that it was late stage cancer. I remember feeling so sad that she wasn’t able to eat and I remember they had the surgery planned for over a week away.  It was unacceptable to me that she would have to go so long without eating so I found her a different surgeon in Scottsdale who could do the surgery sooner.

The story continues to follow closely what Amos is experiencing as they were also unsuccessful in removing her tumor stating that it was too massive and widespread.  Family flew in from all over and we spent time with mom at the hospital.  They even sent her home just as Amos is now home.

She didn’t do well at home and ended up back in the hospital where they decided there was nothing else they could do for her and had her transferred to hospice where she passed away from kidney failure within 10 days of her initial visit to the emergency room.

I have to remind myself daily that this was someone else’s story.  This was my mom’s story.  As she peacefully passed away just days after her 70th birthday, she had fulfilled her mission.  I believe that Amos, on the other hand, has not yet fulfilled his mission.  There is a purpose for what he is going through.  His story will be different.  He will heal from this and survive every other treatment and future surgery until his body is well and whole.

Amos’s oncologist estimated that with treatment he could survive for another 36 months.  I believe we will have our friend, dad, son, brother, husband, counselor, teacher, coach and bishop much longer than that. I love my best friend.  #teamamos #trustinthelord