Our Miracle- Thats what Faith can do- Part 2

You can read the first half of the story here.



3 weeks ago yesterday, my Grandma took a major turn for the worse. It had been a super crazy couple of days. On Friday April 8th, we had our annual Fine arts. Which is a competition our home school group does every year and we compete against other home- schoolers and surrounding christian schools. I was asked by one of the ladies in charge to judge k-3rd grade poetry recitation. I judged it with another lady in our group and it ended up not being quite as bad as I had thought. I was up there from 8 till about 1 or so that afternoon. During my lunch break, my best friend Chay texted me and asked me if I wanted to meet her and her family at the zoo at 1:30 that afternoon for a couple hours. Her Uncle ( her moms brother) and his family were in town from Kentucky and they were always talking about them and I was really wanting to meet them and they were really wanting me to meet them. So I left early and met them at the zoo. It was a lot of fun! I love that family to death and they are a ton of fun to be around. I learned their extended family is just as fun and it didn't take me long to get comfortable around them and I instantly felt right at home. After we got done at the zoo I came home and helped mom finish cleaning the house. Grandma Thys was coming in that night to help watch Grandma on Saturday because I had senior pictures in Jetmoor. Mom didn't feel comfortable leaving Grandma for that long on her own, and it was to much on Rebekah by her self, as it took two people to get Grandma to the bathroom and back. Grandma got in around 4:30 or 5:00 Friday evening.  I spent most of the evening getting things around for senior pictures that next morning. We had to be at Jetmoor by 9:00 Saturday morning and it was an hour drive, which meant we had to leave the house no later then 7:45 because we didn't know where this lady lived.

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning and got things around and headed to Jetmoor. Jacob  had a youth rally that weekend and he was leaving at 7:45 that morning as well, so we dropped him off on our way out of  town. We got to Jetmoor in plenty of time and found the house no problem. Senior pictures went really well. except for the horrible wind we fought all morning. We got several good outside ones, I think and tons of good inside ones, from what I could tell. I haven't actually seen them up close yet. I'm hoping she'll post them very soon. Its about to kill me, not being to see them yet.

We got done with Senior pics around 11:30 or that morning. We then headed on to Dodge, since it was only 25 miles from Jetmoor. We wanted to go look at Hobby lobby for some Graduation things and such. We also splurged since it was just mom and I and ate lunch at  A&W. It was really good. Grandma Thys called mom several times through the day to touch base, and kept saying she didn't know how Mom had been doing it with Grandma. She said it was all she and Rebekah could do to get her to the bathroom and had to practically carry her. Mom was rather puzzled as she had not been having much trouble. We got home around 4:30 or so Saturday evening. Grandma Thys kept mentioning how lethargic Grandma had been that day, and how out of it she was. She said they couldn't hardly get her to eat all day and or drink. Grandma was like, I don't care what those Dr's are saying...this is NOT DEPRESSION!!! Mom's like I know....but what is it? It was driving Grandma nuts all weekend, as she used to be a nurse for many many years. She kept telling mom that if she kept being this Lethargic she needed to get her into the ER and make sure everything was OK. Mom didn't know what to think at this point. Mom knew that for sure by Monday anyway we needed to get her into somewhere and see if we couldn't get some answers. She was going to have Jami ( a good friend of ours who is a nurse at the hospital) schedule us either a Cat scan/ and or an MRI for either that week, or the next. We knew we couldn't wait any longer. Grandma was getting progressively worse by the day, not better.


We had both had a really long, exhausting day so we decided that since Jacob was gone, we were going to order pizza and go rent a movie and just relax that evening. We went and picked out a movie at Hastings and then went and picked up our pizza and then came home. We had barely gotten back the house when Grandma indicated she needed to use the bathroom. Normally if I help mom get her into the wheelchair, mom can get her to the bathroom on her own pretty easy. However, this time Grandma was not supporting any of her weight what so ever. I finally came and helped mom, but grandma wouldn't move her feet at all. She just stood there with her eyes closed and wouldn't respond to us talking to her at all. She also had an odd color to her and was more out of it then normal. Mom realized what Grandma T had been talking about and we both became very worried. We finally got her into the bathroom but Grandma didn't do anything but just sit there with her eyes closed. Rebekah came in and informed us that she hadn't hardly drank anything all day and there fore hadn't gone to the bathroom all day. We didn't know what to do. We were really worried but we didn't want to jump to conclusions. After trying to get Grandma to answer us for about 10 minutes and getting absolutely NO response, we decided to go ahead and take her in just to make sure everything was OK.


We knew there was NO way we could get her loaded our selves, so mom called a couple guys from Church and they came and helped us get her loaded into Anita's ( moms good friend's van) Her Husband drive her van and mom rode with grandma. Anita took Rebekah and I in our Vehicle and we followed them to the ER. On the way I texted Chay to let her know what was going on. She instantly called me in a panic and I told her we didn't know what was going on, just that she was NOT acting her self what so ever. I was about in tears at this point and told her I'd keep her updated. We were in the waiting room maybe 5 minutes before they took grandma back. Mom said the Dr took one look at her, did a few things and sent them straight to CT scan! Mom wanted to hug the guy. We finally found someone that was gonna do something about it and actually run tests. Mom came out and told us what was going on. She said they were gonna do a CT Scan and admit her over night and watch her close and pump her full of fluids, as she was severally dehydrated at this point and probably release her sometime that next day. At this point it was getting close to 10:00 so mom calls a friend of her's to see if Rebekah could stay there, as she is good friend with her daughter and I call Chay to see if I could stay out there. She of course says  yes and she happens to be in town so she comes and picks me up from the hospital. We are fully expecting Grandma to be released by that next day so Mom  was planning to meet Rebekah and I for lunch after Church gets out. Chay comes and gets me and we go to sonic and get something to drink and I calm down a little bit. We drive around and talk for quite a while and jam out to music. I'm actually looking forward to staying out at her house at this point, unplanned sleepovers are the best ;) lol. Just wish it hadn't been for the reason it was. We get back out to Chays  house around 11 or so. A friend of her brothers brings him home and ends up coming in and visiting for a while. So where all sitting in the living room visiting and I'm filling Mrs Hammond in on what was going on exactly when my phone goes off.... that phone call changed my life dramatically......

I answer it fully expecting it be mom., since that's whose phone it was. It wasn't mom....   it was her friend Anita. I could instantly tell something was wrong... she then proceeds to tell me something no Grand-daughter should ever have to hear..

This is what she said: Sarah, I have some news about your Grandma. At this point my throat  jumps to my throat. She proceeds to tell me that they got the results of the CT scan and its not good. She told me they found a HUGE mass on grandma's brain and they were flying her flight for life to Wichita that night. A million questions are going through my head at this point but my mouth is dry and my voice seems to have vanished. Chay is standing beside me and could tell something was major wrong. I'm trying my best not to break down but I'm not doing a very good job of it. Mrs Hammond takes one look at my face  and motions for me to go down stairs, since Codys friend was still there. Her, Chay and I go downstairs and I manage to tell them what was going on without completely breaking down. Mrs Hammond instantly thinks of Mom being by her self  and is ready to head to Wichita right then and there. I go ahead and call mom and try to get some more details and such. She tells me that they are waiting to fly out and that we should probably just stay put for the time being. Mrs Hammond still isn't convinced and its about to kill her just staying put. I'm not exactly the calmest at this point either and still on the verge of breaking down. I try to distract my self the best I can. We finally go to bed and attempt to get some sleep...

We wake up Sunday morning and I decide to go to Church with the Hammonds instead of our church because I knew I couldn't emotionally handle answering a ton of questions at that moment. I call Betty ( a very close friend of ours in Stafford) and let her in on whats going on. She instantly goes into panic mode especially when she hears moms up there by her self. She calls our church family there and feels them in on whats going on and within a couple hours, Stephan and Tammy ( some other good friends) was  there with Mom. Some friends from the St John church also went up that day when they heard what was going on. We were overwhelmed by the wonderful love and support we received instantly from both St John/ and Stafford. I was glad Mom had them there for support and such, so she wasn't there by her self. It was killing me not to be there but I also felt like I needed to stay put so I could work and not miss anymore then I had to. I of course loved staying with the Hammonds and that's where I feel the most comfortable and at home.They became my security net through all this and I became rather attached, more so then I already was. I couldn't of done it without their  amazing love and support. I'm so glad their part of my life. I'd be lost without them!! Especially Chay- She has been the only thing that has kept me sane through this last almost year. If you know me very well at all, you'll know why! ;)

I tried to go on as normal as possible. On Sunday my Grandparents came and got the younger 2 and took them to Colorado till further notice, at the time.  I worked Monday and I also got to hang out with another good friend of mine. That was a lot of fun and much needed catch up time. You know who you are ;)Then I met Chay at the Y and worked out for a little bit- then we went out the house and ate supper then we met another friend at Dairy Queen for a little bit and hung out. It was a much much needed distraction for me.   I also got word that day, that Surgery was going to be the following day on Tuesday. Grandma was in ICU at St Francis. They did several cat scans and an MRI and learned that it wasn't cancerous and that they should be able to remove the tumor no problem. But wouldn't know fore sure till they got in there.They also said it was one of the largest tumors they had ever seen. My uncle Dewayne and aunt Kimila had flown in on Sunday night, so Mom wasn't by her self anymore, which gave this worried daughter, and her worried best friend some relief.  I wanted to be there for the Surgery and Mom wanted me to be there. So I left early Tuesday morning and went as far as Stafford and met my "other mom" and her and I and my "baby sister" Hannah went on to Wichita. We made it to Wichita about 3 hours before surgery. We found the hospital without to much trouble. We go in and find mom and she takes us to the ICU floor. They had the ICU unit in lock down the entire time which was a huge pain for all of  us friends and family, because we had to call someone to let us in and out every-time we had to use the bathroom or something. We were very surprised but they let Hannah go back into the ICU unit with us. We were very glad, as it helped to keep me calm having Betty back there with us. She helped keep the stress down and things fun and light the whole time ;) thanks "Mom"! We all sat around and visited for a while, then mom, Betty, my uncle Dewayne, my aunt Rose and I went downstairs and grabbed some lunch at the cafeteria downstairs.  Grandma was scheduled to go into Surgery at 3:00 and it was only supposed to be a 2 and a half to 3 hour surgery.

They took Grandma back to pre-op around 3:30 or so.... mom went back to pre-op with her and the rest of us went to the Surgical waiting room. Mom didn't come back from pre-op till almost 4:45 and she didn't go into surgery till after 5 sometime. They called once to say surgery was going great and she was doing really good. I of course am a complete stressed out mess at this point and am all broke out in hives. Richard came up for a little bit and sat with us through part of the surgery. It was really good to see him and have him there for support. Hannah was also a great distraction! I chased her around and read her books and just tried to keep my focus on her and not what was going on. They finally called to say they were finishing up in Surgery and Dr should be out in about 40 minutes to talk to us. About 45 minutes to an hour later the Dr finally came out and said she had done beautifully through surgery and they were able to remove all the tumor, and it was not cancer! PRAISE GOD!!!! It was a huge relief!! It's about 10:30 at this point. Betty and I were not planning on staying the night, however they said Grandma was going to be in post-op for a good hour and we couldn't see her during recovery. Betty called Brad to see what he wanted us to do. He said for us to just stay the night and come back in the morning. We were not planning on staying which meant we had NOTHING with us. We decided we were going to run to wal-mart real quick why Grandma was in recovery. They took mom back to recovery, so I texted mom to tell her we were running to wal-mart real quick.

This is where our adventure starts.... cont in next post....