Steven Dixon, Advertising Director

As life is uncertain, death is most definitely certain. I believe that no one asks nor wants to be given a time clock, as it were, on how much time they have left. Unfortunately that is the situation that I am in, not me per se, but rather my mother.

She has been battling vulva cancer since 2007 and with bouts of remission.

The site in which they were going through to do needle radiation on the cancer has now turned into skin cancer and has since spread like wildfire.

She was given the hope of a new clinical trial that would possibly rid her of the tumor and thus the cancer, but she had to await the results of a CT scan while she was staying at the hospital in Oklahoma City.

On Nov. 18, 2014 she learned that the cancer and tumors were far more serious than first projected. It has spread to numerous areas of her body. Needless to say her and my dad didn’t get much sleep that night.

The following day, my dad came home to gather a few more items. He had my sister, my brother and myself meet him at the house to do some rearranging of furniture to accommodate a hospital bed in the living room. Before the bed was delivered, he informed us of all the news along with the most devastating news of all – she was dying, and was only given a matter of weeks, possibly months to live.

After the bed was delivered and setup and all the mechanisms were explained to me, I had the task of making the bed for my mom, the very woman who made my bed when I was a child. I even completed it with flowers as a welcome home gift.

I sat there on the couch staring at the bed, face flustered with tears. I thought, “this isn’t fair!” A God-fearing woman that has been working in nursing homes and doing home health all of my life is now living in those exact same conditions, aside from being in a nursing home.

All we can do now is make her last weeks as comfortable and happy as possible. I’m being as optimistic as possible and thinking of those stories you hear of people in the same situation that end up miraculously living for years. As I myself am living with rheumatoid arthritis, a disease with no known cure, will do all that I can do to make her as comfortable and happy as possible.

I’ve had the unfortunate task of letting some of the family know of the circumstances, mostly just extended family. My niece told me the other day that “she doesn’t go soon, knock on wood.” All I could think of at that time to say was, “There aren’t enough trees in the world.” One thing I know for certain, is that when she does leave to go Home, is that she’ll be surrounded by family and be filled with love.

Many of you reading this now don’t know me, nor my mother for that matter; but I ask all of you to take a few minutes out of your day and tell your mother you love her, and secondly please pray for my mom and for my family. My mom, I’m sure like many of yours, has been the glue that has held our entire family together and made things run like clockwork, even if the gears were worn down or if parts were missing. Thank you and God bless.