May the 4th

It all began on May 4th, 2012.

I had accompanied my mom to an endoscopy at MNGI.  She was referred by her primary physician after my mom's blood results from her physical came back and it was discovered that she was anemic. Prior to this, my mom was having some digestive issues and was feeling very rundown and fatigued all the time. She was initially diagnosed with acid reflux and was put on some meds but the problem kept persisting. So, her doctor suggested that she get an endoscopy.

The procedure itself didn't take long.  They called me in when she was in recovery. I thought it was odd that the doctor came right over. This wasn't good at all. He said that my mom's stomach did not look good at all. He told us he saw that the stomach lining was exceptionally thick and he saw a possible gastric mass. He knew of the family history and suspected that it was diffuse gastric cancer. He took multiple biopsies and placed those on rush.

I could not breathe. I felt like time just froze and this wasn't really happening. I tried so hard to speak but just couldn't. I remember the doctor asking if there's anyone he should call. I told him no. I held my mom's hand. Her eyes were in pure and utter shock. I remember telling her that it will be ok and to let's wait to see what the biopsy results say. Deep down I kept saying to myself, "it has to be something else".

We drove to my home and I stayed with her all afternoon. I didn't want the biopsy results to come back and she be at home all by herself. I remember contacting Stan (my husband), and tell him to come home now and gave him a brief run down. He came home shortly after and the three of us waited just in case the phone rang with the results. I remember thinking that I had to call Mandy (my sister) but she was out of the country for a wedding and would not return for a couple more days. My mom insisted that I not tell her yet. She wanted her to enjoy the wedding.

Those were the longest few hours I've experienced. We didn't get the results until after the weekend.