My mother has cancer!

Three or so years ago, life was so exciting!  My husband and I both had well-paying jobs and our first child was on his way.  Flash forward to today...my mom has cancer, my husband is out of work and I am the sole bread-winner. The thought of having another child now is frightening, to say the least.   

So, cancer…  We got the word while we were one day to our annual family week down at the jersey shore.  Mom was having some pretty bad belly pain so; her sister took her to the local E.R. Belly pain turned to pneumonia before the week was out.   Pneumonia lingered and worsened over the span of three more weeks which landed mom in the ICU on a ventilator!  My brothers and I were beside ourselves.  The last time we saw someone on a vent, it was my grandmother.  We were petrified that we would lose mom like we lost grams to that breathing contraption so many years before. 

My husband kept telling my brothers and me to have my mother transferred to a better hospital.  He kept questioning the doctors at the local hospital, “Why can’t you cure her pneumonia?”, and “What is the source of her belly pain?”  They never had any answers.  They called in more and more doctors.  At one point, they were giving her an HIV test.  HIV?  Her stomach hurts! 

Finally, after four weeks of getting progressively worse, I listened to my husband and demanded that my mother be transferred to a better hospital.  She was moved to a University hospital in an a-joining city.  Within two days mom was sitting up and talking.  I thought it was a miracle.  My husband insisted it was good medicine.  Nevertheless, mom’s pneumonia was on the mend.  Now it was time to find out what the belly pain was all about.  Mom had almost every test you can think of (and a few you would swear I made up).  That’s when cancer reared its ugly head. 

That’s why I am Frazzled Cheese.  I try not to implode or explode while I am caring for my three year old, taking my mom to her numerous doctors’ appointments, chemo treatments and tests after tests after tests, working more than full time…all while my husband is more often than not,  out of town.  Frazzled is my way of life.  My hair is always a frizzy, knotty, dirty mess.  I have put on a ton of weight.  I never put on makeup, never bother to dress in anything other than black and greys. I can’t remember anything to save my life.  I once sent my school to school with his half eaten lunch from the day before.

I am caught in the middle of my child and my mom.  I would say that I am the meat in the middle of a sandwich but, I am a vegetarian.  I am not a vegan and am quite fond of dairy products. I love a good cheese samie so, when I was trying to come up with a good name for this blog….Frazzled Cheese is the best I could come up with. 

Here, I will be posting about how my mom is driving me crazy, how I miss my husband, how my son is so uber cute (and that is how the universe keeps me from constantly yelling at him), how my poor, neglected dog the only one who gets me and everything else that makes up my insane life.  I am hoping that my posts will, at least give you a chuckle, if not inspire you to keep on keepin’ on through your own frazzled middle place.