Wonderful Christmas...Crappy Update

Happy New Year everyone!! My New Year's Resolution: Update MaeLynn's blog more often. Although, to give me a tiny bit of credit, MaeLynn did say that SHE would update it last month...so it wasn't entirely my fault :)

Here's what's new. MaeLynn and her family had the most fabulous Christmas ever! They were the recipients of Sub for Santa from the Mounted Police in Logan/Cache County. They were nominated to be a "Decorated Family" which meant that multiple people called in to a radio station in Logan, nominating them to be one of two families in the valley to have their homes lit outside by Specialized Lawn Care & Pest Control. They also received gift cards and services from a bunch of other businesses in Logan and Cache Valley as part of the "Decorated Family" thing.

Their family also received many gifts and money from friends, family, and anonymous generous people, including a new van, a get-away package for her and Andy, and a VCR/DVD player. MaeLynn wants to thank EVERYONE for their generosity and support in this crazy time. She would give names, but she knows she'd forget someone. She is constantly overwhelmed by the outpouring of love!

As always, Mae remains optimistic and just keeps on trucking. She did get a crappy new prognosis from her doctor just after Thanksgiving, though....which is why she wanted to write it herself last month. However, it's just been too busy, and MaeLynn doesn't know how to say it without sounding blunt and heartless....so I get to be the blunt heartless one. :)

Andrew wondered what the new tumors, and old-tumor-growth meant time-wise, so he decided to go talk to MaeLynn's doctor without MaeLynn there. MaeLynn would really rather not know how long she has left to live so that she can live her life as normally as possible till the end. But when Andy got home from the doctor's office he kept pestering her about it. She finally gave in and Andy told her that the doctor said he doesn't think she has more than six months left to live.

Wow.

That's alot easier to type than it is to ingest.

When a patient has been given six months or less to live, they can get a "doctor's note" and get on hospice care. From what I understand, hospice can be incredible. MaeLynn's insurance will cover it 80%, which is really nice. Through them she can get her digestive enzymes and pain medication for free, they offer counseling services for MaeLynn and her family, they can basically come into her home and do whatever she needs them to. At this point, she still feels well enough that she doesn't need any physical care, but her family is struggling emotionally. She will start having someone come in once a month to just be around her and the kids so that they can get used to hospice workers....and the workers can offer counseling and support.

MaeLynn is doing about the same. She feels nauseous quite often, and very tired. She has lost a lot of weight...about 30 pounds since June. But she still looks good. It's almost impossible to think she doesn't have much longer to live. And she still believes that miracles can and do happen and that possibly her miracle will be that she lives longer than expected.

That said, she and Andrew have been focusing on how to prepare for her absence. They have a good financial advisor who is helping them cash in on part of her life insurance before she dies. They can set up accounts and re-invest part of it that they can live off of later. They also want to create some wonderful memorable experiences with their kids in the next few months, so they will use some of the life insurance money for that. Andrew will try to work a minimal amount of hours so that he can phase into being Mr. Mom.

It seems like there are so many people to see and things to do in such a short time. Some of MaeLynn's friends and ward members are throwing her an early 30th birthday party because no one knows how she'll feel by April 11th. There she'll be able to catch up with Cache Valley friends and have a big celebration for her 30th birthday.

Like I said earlier, MaeLynn is doing okay. She has moments when everything comes crashing in on her emotionally, but she is such a pillar of faith and patience. She seems to be handling the situation better than most people, including myself. Sorry for this news. Until next time....