It was July of 2006. I went to my mother for advice on which
diet program I should begin to get the
wedding day body I wanted. She
raved about her past success with
Weight Watchers and decided she would do it with me, too. She wanted to lose a lot of weight,
plus this would give her the opportunity to visit with me
at least once a week.
And our journey began....7 months later, I had lost
20 pounds and my mother had lost
over 60 pounds.
Incredible!
My mom and I on my wedding day....
She was
walking most mornings and had taken up
tennis. Lucas was giving her
lessons and she had
quickly become involved in tennis programs in
two cities.
The weight just kept coming off and my mom was in the
best shape she had been in since I was a
little girl.
Then.....
she got sick.
I have
never written about this, partly because my mom is a very
"anti-sick" person. She
hates feeling bad, she
hates complaining about her health, she doesn't want to go to the doctor, she doesn't want to talk about it, and she
definitely doesn't want to have to plan her life around a sickness.
She doesn't want to be the sick person. And I don't want her to be the sick person, either.
When sickness struck her,
it struck hard. There are times when she
can't walk across the room because she simply doesn't have the energy or the oxygen to make it. She coughs
incessantly - that is brought on by any number of things including walking, talking, laying down - meaning she gets
very little sleep.
This sickness has changed a lot about my mother. We used to talk on the phone everyday. This is virtually
impossible now. Our conversations used to be long but have grown
shorter and
shorter as she
inevitably begins coughing and quickly runs out of breath. We used to go shopping together all the time. That has ended for obvious reasons. It might not be a bad thing to end a lot of those shopping trips
but they are certainly missed. We used to go on little day trips together and
even took a family canoe trip just before she got sick.
For almost two years now, my mom has put her life on hold -
for what? The
doctors couldn't tell us. Mom ended up in the hospital every month or two - staying an average of five to seven days with
each visit - while they ran tests, administered breathing treatments, and tried to figure out what was wrong with her. Each time results were
inconclusive. They could find
nothing wrong. We were probably the
only people in the entire hospital
praying that the doctors would find
something,
anything,
even if it was bad.... just so that we would
know what it was. Always nothing. But on the upside - she would leave the hospital feeling
much better! However, her health would
rapidly deteriorate once she got home.
A brief period of 'okay' health.
This marathon day probably took a big toll on her health.
Taking off my pants when I couldn't bend my knees. Good mom :)
She even made everyone these "Team Ashley" sweatshirts
octors guessed
severe adult-onset asthma,
chronic bronchitis, and
allergies. She had
major sinus issues and even had a sinus
surgery. It didn't help. She has spent most of this time hopped up on steroids, puffing out of asthma inhalers, giving herself at-home breathing treatment, drinking cough syrup out of the bottle (not doctor recommended but immediate and short-lived results) -
living in a daze.
The doctors here were running out of hope and
my resolve was wearing thin - to say the least. I was
tired of these
"doctors" who kept giving my mother
hope but delivered
no results. Her doctors finally decided to recommend her to
Vanderbilt.
Thank you! A small ray of hope that some leading doctor in his field would
finally figure out all our problems. This was our next course of action.
Then, her doctor suggested she meet
one more doctor here to see what he had to say.
I didn't like this idea. My mind was made up.
She was going to Vanderbilt. But she met with this infectious diseases doctor. He ordered more tests and I thought,
'here we go again.' Wrong.After a couple of meetings in the hospital and office visits, my mother met with
Dr. Spera yesterday. She walked in and he said,
"We found IT."
... more info tomorrow and maybe a visit with my mom in the hospital. Don't freak out. We are
happy she is there.
:)Words truly cannot express the relief and happiness we feel. This isn't over yet. But we see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is glowing bright!
This nightmare is coming to an end soon
and I'll have my mother back.
