My mom called today with a report after her follow up appointment with her surgeon.

She had the staples on her abdomen removed. They made a vertical line about five inches, with the middle of the line being the belly button.

Her surgeon also told her the results after having studied the tumor. It’s not cancerous, but if it had not been removed it could have grown and eventually burst. He told her she was healed and “see you in a year.”

This is where my mom started to get emotional. It was the first time I had heard (or seen) her cry or lose her cool throughout this whole process which began in late October. My mom is not one to hide her emotions, so I imagine it must have been hard for her to tell her children that she had a tumor and maintain a calm and controlled tone.

As my mom choked up, she said that it was a blessing to have the initial scare of breathing problems. Without looking at her lungs, the doctors might have not noticed the spots on her liver that worried them (her liver is fine, by the way). Once they looked at the liver, they noticed the tumor near the colon.

My mom spent four days in the hospital. She was rarely alone and more often than not had more than the minimum 2 visitors. It’s a good thing she didn’t have a roommate, or else the nurses would have not let my dad stay overnight and we surely would have been reprimanded for having a half dozen visitors squeezed in to the tiny room.

When she returned home on Sunday afternoon, she found a dining table full of flowers, a hastily made “welcome home, mom” banner, a dozen family members and very excited dog who wouldn’t leave her side. Neighbors came later and offered to bring soups and other soft foods throughout the week. One neighbor, a middle-aged man, cried a little as he told my dad how worried he had been when he heard the news “porque queremos tanto a la señora Luz.”

This process has been tough, but it was easier with the thoughts and prayers from family, friends and relative strangers. We appreciate it… we really do.