Welcome to my second Beyond the Books post. This post was inspired by Lexxie @Unconventional Bookviews' Up Close and (Un)conventional, who was inspired by Cuddlebuggery. It's meant to be a way for y'all to get to know me better on a personal level - Beyond the Books. ;)
***
My grandma, I call her MawMaw, is an extremely important and integral part of my life. I spent so much of my childhood with her. My younger brother and I invariably spent our weekends with her and my PawPaw, on their farm, enjoying the pleasures only a farm can offer. Catching frogs, climbing trees, feeding the animals, and tending to the garden. MawMaw was my second Mom and my best friend. She put rollers in my hair and made me whatever kind of food I wanted. Chocolate milk will always be a comfort to me and a reminder of all the time I've spent with her. When I was put on bed rest during my second pregnancy, she immediately came to stay - for 3 months - to help me with my toddler. I didn't even have to ask...she was just there. She's always been there for me. She is largely responsible for the woman, wife, mother, I've become...and I like to think she's proud of how I turned out.
My MawMaw was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. She endured a radical mastectomy last week and I just knew I needed to be with her - as she's always been there for me. So I drove to Texas and spent about a week there, to help with her after-care. And I'll be returning to Texas, on Monday, to stay with her once again, as my parents had a scheduled trip they couldn't change. And, well, I'd do just about anything to help her. She's doing remarkably well, getting stronger every day. And with luck, she's going to avoid having to have chemo or radiation.
I wanted to note - her cancer was discovered during her annual routine mammogram. Luckily, she'd had one last year, so they knew these places they were seeing on the images were new. I'm grateful that she makes her health a priority and you can rest assured I'll be having my mammogram routinely from here on out. Cancer sucks. And none of us should be taking chances. Ladies ~ don't put off those annual exams!
So, be patient with me as I'm slowly getting to each of your blogs to comment. I'll keep caught up as best I can. And I will get to commenting back to your comments left here as well. I appreciate each one of you! Thanks for reading. :)
Don't you worry about us. We'll still be here when your life stabilizes a bit. :) Thinking good thoughts for you and your MawMaw. She sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteOh Brandee, I'm very sorry to hear your mawmaw's gone through so much. And I'm glad you get to go be with her. My dad was diagnosed with cancer last fall, and thankfully he's through wit treatments and doing well. Spending that time with him in the hospital was scary and sad, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYour Mawmaw is a warrior and though I'm sad that she has to go through this, she's also an inspiration. The C-word is the devil but your family and MawMaw sounds like you're giving it a hard kick in the groin. Give your lady a big hug for me!
ReplyDeleteBig hug! Cancer sucks and it seems like no one is safe from it :( I'm glad you were able to be there with her and that you'll get to see her again, I'm sure your support means the world to her. And thank goodness she takes such good care of herself, they might have missed it if she didn't go regularly! I wish she lived in a closer part of Texas, I'd so help out with anything, but I think you said west texas right? Well give her a hug from Dallas and do let me know if there's anything I can do from my part of the world. She sounds like a wonderful (& tough!) lady and I'll have her in my thoughts :)
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about your grandma. I know the importance of family. I hope she stays strong and beats this. So true about those exams. They are extremely important. As Steven Amell would say "F*ck Cancer"
ReplyDelete