Bye Bye Tumor

 It was a long night. My cousin Karnia's surgery didn't start until 5:50 pm. We were told that it would last between 4-6 hours. We all were prepared for a very long night. A lot of my family gathered at the hospital to just be there. I was stuck at home and I was nervous and anxious. I wanted to be at the hospital. Instead I was home and my mood was on edge. The girls were all over me since Joey was out so I set up some melting beads to keep them occupied. I sat with them and made a rainbow "K". It was something I could make and then hold on to for the next few hours. I kept the lyrics from the new Macklemore song running through my head...

this is the moment

tonight is the night

we'll fight till it's over

So we put our hands up like the ceiling can't hold us

 As it got later in the night I worked on Phi's vest for her first confession. She asked me to embroider her favorite line from the Act of Contrition....

God Have Mercy

As I worked I said it over and over.

Karina had sent me a text earlier in the day telling me that they ended up having to completely shave her hair off. She sent me a photo and of course she looked absolutely gorgeous.

As the hours went by I kept checking my phone and facebook for updates. I started seeing pictures of the guys in my family. They were shaving their heads. Right there in the hospital room. Amazing. When Joey got home I told him what the guys were doing. He didn't hesitate. He went straight to the bathroom and got out the clippers. 

It was amazing to see all these pictures start to pop up on Instagram. My Tia Mary was great at keeping us all updated with pictures. 

So many beautiful bald heads. An amazing testament to the love and support we have for Karina. Like I said yesterday, in this family no one ever goes through anything alone.

WE GOT YOU KARINA. 

It wasn't until close to midnight that we finally got the news we were waiting for. The surgery went well. Even though the tumor was much larger than they thought ( it was the size of half a tangerine!) they are confident they got it all. It did not look cancerous but we would still need to wait for the biopsy. She is in the ICU and her parents were finally able to go in and see her. Karina did great and everything went fine. Music to our ears.

 The scene from the waiting room. This rowdy bunch only got reprimanded by security to keep it down...twice. I heard they kicked Baby Mathme out because he was too young. How dare they! Don't they know who he is!

So we are very grateful that the surgery went as well as possible. Grateful for all the prayers, good vibes and positive thoughts.  Now its time for Karina to heal. If she needs us we are all here. She is young and healthy and recovering should be quick. Plus Karina is a bad ass and will be back to an even better short haired version of herself before we know it.

And our family gets even stronger and closer.