Mom's Making Progress

Sometimes I need to take a timeout from talking about Australia and talk about home, family and things close to my heart. It has been a busy few weeks for our family. Mom has made the rounds of her family doctor, radiologist and surgeon, not to mention all kinds of tests in preparation for surgery. Stress test - good. Breathing test - check. Last week she was admitted to hospital for two procedures. The first one involved searching for evidence of any cancer in her lymph nodes, via a very tiny camera inserted via the throat. Good news - nothing in the lymph nodes and the only side effect was some difficulty talking. The following day (Thursday) the surgeon removed a portion of her lung. She spent a little over a week in the hospital, hooked up to various machines which pulled fluid out of the lungs (since the one which was operated on can't do it for itself while healing) She's also using an inhalation therapy machine, which pumps medicine into her lungs, which loosens phlegm which settled into her chest from the surgery. And don't forget the oxygen machine. All this technology... it makes me aware of the amazing number of things our bodies do for us all the time and which we take for granted. It also increases my (already great) appreciation for research and innovation in medicine. Imagine how much slower her recovery would be if her lungs had to clear themselves while in such a weakened state. The surgery itself would probably be as dangerous as the cancer. Such visionaries... I'm in awe.

I am pleased and relieved to report that my mother is home from the hospital and continuing to recover. Her diabetes contributed to her extended hospital stay. She didn't have much of an appetite (it hurt to eat, not to mention trying to negotiate all the tubes and wires), which made her blood sugar levels a bit unstable. Insulin shots helped to smooth those out (another research miracle), and now her task is to maintain a regular eating schedule, rest, and let her body heal.

Mom's surgeon seems to think that chemo will not be needed, but her GP has referred her to an oncologist for his opinion. I'm grateful for that. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. That will take place in a couple of weeks. In the meantime she is receiving lots of get well cards and family support.

I hope to write again soon with even better news. For now, I will end by saying I am extremely grateful to my sister Dianne, who faithfully sends informative emails describing the details of doctor visits, surgery, recovery progress, and easy to understand explanations of the complexities of surgery, disease, and medical equipment. Thank you, sweetie!  Thanks also to everyone who has called, emailed and written their interest and support for me, Vince and especially my Mom. It is appreciated and it is helping. You bless all of us.

Twice a Child

No matter how well you prepare yourself, you're never really ready for the moment when your parents stop taking care of you and you have to start caring for them. This moment has come for my sisters and me. It occurred when we learned that my Mother has lung cancer.

I doubt I'm saying anything new to most of you, but it's my turn to go through the experience. It sure is weird. My parents were barely 20 when I was born, which makes them younger than the parents of most of my peers. I now understand the jittery nerves and breath-holding moments that happen while you're waiting for news from the doctors. How big is the "spot"? What exactly is a PET scan? Will it hurt? And of course, what are Mom's chances of survival? And what quality of life will she have? My Mom was a pack-a-day smoker for 50 years, so this is not exactly unexpected. Still, we all naturally hope and pray that a miracle will happen and Mom will be spared the trauma, pain and ultimate surrender that often accompany this diagnosis.

When my parents divorced my Mom found herself a single mother with 4 little girls under the age of 10, with only enough child support to afford the most spartan of conditions for us. She went back to full-time nursing after a 9-year break, took correspondence courses to update her medical knowledge, and made sure we all did our homework, brushed our teeth and did our chores. She even co-led our Girl Scout troop for a year. Mom's a real survivor, but she fell apart when the doctor told her that the dime-sized spot on her lung that he had been keeping an eye on had grown and it was time to do a biopsy. Sometimes having medical knowledge is a curse -- Mom knew that meant he suspected cancer. My youngest sister Dianne lives about a half-hour drive from Mom. By interesting coincidence they both have the same physician (GP). It has fallen to Dianne to receive the panicked phone calls, sift through the tears and garbled phrases, and communicate the news to her sisters. She has done a fantastic job providing clear and timely information. Thank you, sweetie!

In times of crisis, you learn new things about your siblings. I'm the oldest, so people expect me to take charge in moments like this. But I'm halfway across the world so I can't do it. Geography somewhat dictated our roles, but it's the youngest who has been the most parental. Granted, Dianne has three grown children, so she is probably also the best qualified. The sister I thought could handle it the most easily took the news especially hard. These are good things to know about your family.  Mom's in the no-computer-for-me camp, so I don't have the luxury of Skype, but in lieu of being there I have racked up a few hundred minutes on my cell phone in the past few weeks. Vince and I do our best to make her laugh and get her to talk about her fears. It seems to help.

It has been three weeks since that first difficult conversation. Many others have occurred since then, but yesterday we received the good news. Although the spot on my Mom's lung is indeed cancer, it is encapsulated and the nodule has not metastasized. Tomorrow Mom, Dianne and the doctor will discuss treatment options, which will most likely include surgery followed by chemotherapy. Belt and suspenders, Vince calls it. I wish I could be there.

When Life Imitates Scripture

I am so proud of my husband. Well actually, I'm always proud of him but I'm especially thrilled to be Mrs. Vetter (or Mrs. Vay-tah, as our Dutch church friends say) at the moment.Vince preached a wonderful sermon at church this past Sunday.

I'm not sure who was more surprised to see Vince in the pulpit - himself or the congregation. He has given sermons before, but not recently. So there he was on Sunday, before a rapt audience, telling them all about how Gideon and his army won a victory in spite of ridiculous odds.

We've been studying the book Judges in our weekly Bible study for the past several weeks, and Reinier, our pastor, has been preaching from it for the past month or so. There have been a number of lighthearted discussions about how even scaredy cats like Gideon can demonstrate that when God is behind you, it is possible to overcome anything, even 35,000 warriors. Reinier was planning to preach on the way Gideon used tests to make sure he could trust that God was asking him to do something. Then Reinier caught the "creeping crud" and was unable to give the sermon himself.

Well, now... several months ago Vince let Reinier know that he was available to give a sermon should he ever need someone on short notice. And here was an opportunity. But what timing -- in the middle of a really busy time at work and only 3 days to prepare. But nobody else stepped in to do it, so Vince was our guy. He read and edited, practiced and practiced, stayed up late rehearsing, and I got to hear it a dozen times or so before Sunday. I even got to help -- I pointed out that his description of how the Midianites "had been womping down on Israel for years" might be hard for our Dutch and South African crowd to understand (he changed it to "beating up on") By Saturday it sounded great to me, but of course I am biased.

Sunday came and it was time to deliver. Vince mouthed the words to the hymns but did not sing (if you've heard Vince sing before, you will understand), led the service, and then it was time for the sermon. I had been a little nervous up to this point. The average age of our congregation is around 70 years old, and they are very set in their ways. They like their sermons straight up, their hymns slow and traditional, and they're not very good with change. But there they were, enthralled with this Texan who smiled and thundered in turn, and who brought Gideon's fears, prayers and victories to life. By the end of the sermon you could have heard a pin drop. Afterward, he received many compliments such as "well, you did a lot better than I thought you would." High praise from our church members, and they meant every word!

Vince did a great job. I know it's not just my opinion, because the elders have already asked if he would be willing to give another sermon when the pastor is on vacation. And Reinier joked that he's going to have to acquire a Texan drawl. Good on ya Vince. And Reinier, we're lookin' forward to seein' ya back in the saddle real soon.