Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.
Monday Monday, can't trust that day,
Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Oh Monday Monday, how you could leave and not take me.
Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time
Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.
Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time
Monday Monday, ...
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.
Monday Monday, can't trust that day,
Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Monday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Oh Monday Monday, how you could leave and not take me.
Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time
Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening you would still be here with me.
Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin' all of the time
Monday Monday, ...
Monday, Monday.....
1966, The Mamas and The Papas
If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears
It is 12:03 am, Monday....this was a day I used to like to see. What?!?! Yes, you read that correctly, I liked to see Mondays. It meant we would be up and on our way to our respective "jobs"...the kids would be at school and I would be at the bank. I know we missed being together but it was also good because we were able to spend time with our friends.
School in El Campo would start at 8:00 am but the kids liked to get to school at 7:30 am...yes, that's what I said, 7:30 am. They would spend this thirty minutes practicing their social skills and they did it very well. I can still see Cory hurrying to get into school...he liked to be waiting for all his other friends to get to school so they could talk and visit because when the bell rang, he was all business...Cheyenne was the same way. She might act like she didn't like school but I know she did. They both worked hard at school and when it came time for homework, I didn't have to tell them twice...actually, it would be done by the time I came home from work. They knew if homework wasn't done by the time Momma came home, no after school activities. We had our system and it worked...I would constantly stress about how things were going to get done...oh, how I wish I had that stress now...
I dread Mondays now. This is usually the day something happens or we get some type of bad news. I am really dreading it because Cory had a good weekend. Let me catch you up on some things...
This past Thursday, he had a CAT scan. He had been running a low grade fever--100.1 to 101.0--all last week and the doctors were wanting to find out the cause. On Friday, they found two different things, there was a shadow of something in his lower left lung at the bottom and they found some type of abscess under his colon by his intestines on his right side. It was decided they were going to do a bronch, a procedure where a tiny camera is inserted through Cory's breathing tube down into his lungs to see what is going on. They were going to flush 80 cc of saline solution into his lungs and then suck out as much as they could. This was going to be done Saturday morning. They were going to address the abscess after the first of the week.
Saturday morning, we were preparing for the bronch and his nurse told me they were going to check the abscess that day also. Hurry up and wait is the motto for any type of medical procedure and wait we did. These procedures did not get started until 2:00 pm...UGH!
The results of the bronch were great! The doctor came out and said his lungs were in wonderful shape, clean and pristine--her words--and now we will wait to find out the results from the lab. We are still getting some mucus out of his lungs but Cory is coughing really good now and the nurses provide support to help him get it out. They had been going in and suctioning him out every two or three hours but now they don't, they help Cory. He is also being weaned off the breathing machine...he is breathing up to four hours at a time on his own and he is doing this two times a day for now.
Now for the procedure for the abscess. The doctor said they would have to carefully access it. They would get some fluid out and if it was questionable, they would have to insert a tube to drain it. If the fluid was okay, they would leave it alone. It was a dangerous procedure for Cory because if it was full of infectious fluid and the abscess burst, he was in danger of going into septic shock and for Cory, that would be life-threatening. Normally, the body would fight off the infection and it could recover. Cory's body can't fight infection because he has no immune system. If the fluid would have gotten into his body, he could have died. Talk about reality hitting you between the eyes...that procedure was the lesser of two evils...
I waited and waited to hear from that doctor about the results. I finally said enough and went to find out. I arrived at Cory's room and they had just finished the procedure and the results were great as well! The abscess was fine, they only recovered about a teaspoon of fluid and didn't need to leave a drain tube in. Praise God!! Prayers answered!! We are waiting on the lab results for that as well.
Sunday was a good day as well...Cory slept all day and his vitals were in good shape. That is why I am so scared, worried and my stomach is in so many knots...it feels good to finally be off the roller coaster of emotions. I can't say enough about how small the baby steps are we are taking and how good they feel. At the first of last week, we wanted everything to happen so fast and we forgot we were only 14 days into our journey...
I was having a conversation one night with Jane, our nurse and we were talking about how as a society we have become so impatient. We want it now...we don't want to wait. We don't take the time to slow down and really feel or see or appreciate anything anymore and I am just as guilty as anyone. I was always thinking about what was next on the agenda that I really didn't see what was going on in front of me. I tried to get organized and tried to do better with time management--yes, in the past I didn't just fail, I failed miserably at both--but I was trying to do better. Being here has been very hard for two reasons; one, because my son is so very sick and two, because I am not in control of the situation. I do not like to rely on anyone for anything; I don't ask for help, I even turn it down when I really need to take it. I was an adult, a mother and to me, that means you need to be responsible for what you do and you need to take care of your children...end of story. I felt weak or like a failure when someone helped me and I was embarrassed. I am slowly adjusting to not being in control of Cory's recovery but let me tell you, any other place I can control, I am so there. :-)
I have a story to share about my faith in God....
The first weekend we were here, I sent a text to Dawn Korenek late one night and asked her to contact her husband's great aunt, Margaret Anderson. Margaret and I work together and she had shared a novena, a series of prayers, with me to pray if you are requesting something. I asked Dawn to get it for me. The next day, I received a booklet her mother-in-law, Carol Korenek, had sent for me. It was the Novena to St. Therese of the Child Jesus. It was the prayers Margaret had shared. I took that booklet and prayed that night but our worries and concerns were too large at the time and I didn't use it to pray for several days.
This past Wednesday, Jill Mach came for a visit and she brought me a small bag of stuff. There were a few bills--yuck--magazines and a letter with the name Mrs. Jennifer in a handwriting I didn't recognize. I opened the letter and began to read. It was from Jessica Dornak...inside was a booklet that contained the Novena to St. Therese of the Child Jesus. She shared a story about her family and praying to St. Therese. I looked up and said "OK, Lord, I hear what you are telling me." I put the booklet in my backpack to pray when I went to Cory's room but when the time came, I didn't say my prayers.
The next day, Thursday, my Mom came back to Houston with Ester Rodriguez. Ester is a great friend and she also is the woman who makes me feel pretty every six to eight weeks...she is our family stylist and when I say she is our family stylist, she does our whole family...my mom, my aunts, me, Chey and Cory. She came to Houston to take me to a night of conversation with Joyce Meyers at Lakewood Church, which on that day, I needed desperately. Joyce has a ministry but she doesn't preach over you, she gets right at your level and talks to you. For those of you who have not watched her or read any of her books, I highly recommend you do so. She will make you laugh out loud and she will make you think...it's just like talking to your best friend. Anyway, I was at McDonald's house getting dressed when they made it to Houston. At the house, only people that have had background checks are allowed upstairs, so Ester couldn't come up with Mom. She had given Mom a gift for Cory. It was a rosary she had picked up at the Vatican. This rosary was handmade entirely of red roses...
Now, let me take a minute here and explain something. For those of you not familiar with the story of St. Therese, it goes like this. When you pray the novena, before your prayers are answered, you will receive a rose in some form. I know you non-believers are thinking that is so bogus but I beg to disagree. Margaret and another co-worker, Jessica Baker have both said they have prayed the novena on several different occasions, then received a rose and their requests have been answered.
Now when Mom told me every bead on the rosary was entirely made of roses, I had to sit down. On a rosary, there are 60 beads about 1/4" in diameter. The rosary was in a plastic pouch inside a clear plastic box. I didn't even open the box and I could smell the roses just like I was in the garden. Ester and I left to go to Lakewood and we started talking about St. Therese. She added more to the story. She said she always buys several items when she goes on vacation to give as gifts. She was at work earlier in the week and remembered the items she brought back from the Vatican. She thought she had several things left but when she opened the drawer, all she had was that rosary and she could smell the roses. She thought this is for Cory. I told her the even crazier thing was roses are my all-time favorite flower and the particular smell of the rosary was my favorite as well. We were quiet for awhile and I said "OK Lord, I finally get the message, I will pray to St. Therese."
I pulled out that little book last night and said those prayers. I believe God is answering those prayers because of the positive results of Cory's procedures on Saturday and the good day he had on Sunday. I still worry something else will turn up but I don't feel the cold hand reaching through my chest anymore...I say "No, stop it, you will not take over me, go away!" I put my faith in God that He will walk us through whatever we are going through.
For those who want to pray with me, here is the Novena to St. Therese...
O little Therese of the child Jesus, please pick for me a rose
from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message
of love.
O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to grant the favors
I now place with confidence in your hands.....
(insert here your prayer requests)
St. Therese, help me to always believe as you did, in God's
great love for me, so that I might imitate your "Little Way"
each day. Amen.
Pray this prayer, plus five Our Father's, five Hail Mary's and five Glory Be's on five successive days.
Well, I will close this entry for the night....I will continue to have faith in God that we are where we are supposed to be, doing what we are meant to do. I still don't understand why but I have accepted that I am not supposed to understand why. All I know is my son will continue to recover from his brain surgery, the stroke and he will be cancer-free by the spring...I can feel it in my heart and soul....
Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers the past several weeks and please continue to pray for Cory...I am a witness to what your prayers are doing...your prayers are giving him life...
God Bless You All.....