Christmas Eve 2001.<\/p>\n
Normally I loved to decorate the tree with my youngest daughter, Kristy, and wait for my six older children to arrive. But now, sitting in the living room, I couldn\u2019t shake the desolation I felt. I\u2019d been diagnosed with lung cancer and the prognosis wasn\u2019t good.<\/p>\n
What will Kristy do without me?<\/em> She\u2019s only 17. <\/em>She\u2019d already lost her dad to cancer five years before. This will be too much.<\/p>\n \u201cHi, Mom,\u201d Kristy said, jarring me out of my thoughts. \u201cHere\u2019s my Christmas list.\u201d She handed me the paper then left. I\u2019d asked Kristy for her list weeks ago. I was surprised she\u2019d taken so long. Then I began to read. It wasn\u2019t a typical list. She was telling me she wanted me to be well. I cried as I read her last request: \u201cI wish my dearest mother will be with me for so many more years, with so much more time and so many more happy memories.\u201d I put the page down. Lord, please take care of my girl.<\/em> I felt a glimmer of hope. Christmas that year was not as sad as I\u2019d feared.<\/p>\n But in early spring I took a turn for the worse and had to go in for surgery. My kids came to the hospital. When I saw Kristy my heart ached. I knew she\u2019d take it the hardest if I didn\u2019t come through this. Soon after the doctors came for me.<\/p>\n Hours later I awoke and saw Kristy next to me. \u201cHi,\u201d she said, kissing me through her tears of joy. All the tumor that had collapsed my lung came out easily when the doctors operated. My lung re-inflated and was functioning normally. The doctors thought they\u2019d gotten everything. My prognosis was much better.<\/p>\n Today I\u2019m healthy at 66. Kristy just finished college. This Christmas, as with the last five, I will take joy in the celebration of Christmas\u2014a celebration of life\u2014and prayers answered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Christmas Eve 2001. Normally I loved to decorate the tree with my youngest daughter, Kristy, and wait for my six older children to arrive. But now, sitting in the living room, I couldn\u2019t shake the desolation I felt. I\u2019d been diagnosed with lung cancer and the prognosis wasn\u2019t good. What will Kristy do without me? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1224],"class_list":["post-20979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living-with-cancer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n