Hi to my mom's online followers - I feel incredibly privileged to have been passed this torch...man those are some big shoes to fill.  I'll cut to the chase as I know waiting isn't any fun...

My mom's surgery went very well today.  It took nearly 8 hours and we were all biting our nails the entire time.  The surgeon called shortly after 4pm to tell us that everything had gone well...no complications.  She woke up easily after surgery and was transferred up to the ward by 7pm.  When we saw her she looked a little beat up (or a lot) but was having NO pain.  She has a PCA pump - which allows her to press a button and have pain medication delivered straight to her vein AND an epidural for pain relief directly to the upper part of her chest.  She was a bit nauseated but otherwise felt ok.  She was totally with it, gave us a two thumbs up and was cracking jokes - she even asked for a glass of wine.  The physiotherapists arrived within 15 minutes of settling on the ward.  Mom's eyes were huge in disbelief - exercises?? already?? They had her sitting up, taking deep breaths and coughing -- and as we were leaving tonight she whispered to me "those physio exercises aren't very funny anymore!"  She did fantastic - for those of you familiar with incentive spirometry - she blew her baseline already!  We are all so proud of her.   

Over the past couple months I have spent a significant amount of time thinking about life - and death.  That big ugly 6 letter C-word makes you look your own mortality in the face and wonder - what is the point??  Slowly over time I have come to a very important realization.  Mom has devoted her life to her family, her friends, her students - she has touched so many lives and has inspired so many people young and old. She is kind, compassionate, reliable and she leads by example.  My mom has been a steadfast constant in my life and has truly never let me down.  It has occurred to me that the measure of her life has been defined by your gestures small and grand during this incredibly difficult time.   The measure of her life is in the cards on our piano - the cinnamon buns, soups, casseroles in our freezer - the lovingly hand crafted photoalbum on our kitchen counter, the pooh pillow on her bed, the dragon poster on the wall, the endless number of trinkets and toys – hats, stuffed animals, sweatshirts, livestrong t-shirt – the ambitious bikers and the donations, the hundreds of emails that have filtered through her inbox and the 9485 views of her blog since January.   Among all the anger, pain and confusion of this difficult “bother” – In my mind the purpose of life somehow made itself a whole lot more clear.  

I will be signing back on tomorrow with more updates!  Keep those positive thoughts coming...

Thank you to the Lenzins for the incredible power of white rabbit luck this morning - I could not believe this gift it was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

“Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem." - Christopher Robin to Pooh