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The Strongest Woman I Know

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Ever since I was a little girl I always saw my Nana on the go and running around shopping till us kids fell asleep, now as I’m older it is hard seeing her getting tired going through the local target to get a few things for the house. Every week I go visit her and talk with her about any and everything and even though they are usually the same stories I don’t mind. As a young girl my Nana had it hard with losing her mother to appendicitis, and later on growing up to getting diabetes and losing her younger sister to cancer, her husband to complications of diabetes, and also eventually losing her youngest son to addiction as well as complications of diabetes. Although she has been through so much loss and pain she is still the most amazing, caring, loving, and giving person that I know.

I hate to admit but this past year I didn’t know if we were going to lose her or not. She had not been eating well at all, always complaining about back pain, stomach pain, and just overall the feeling of not being well. One day she went to the doctors and got checked and x-rayed and they found that she had traces of cancer in her colon, her stomach was nearly in her chest, and she had an enlarged ovary and several other things wrong so she would have to have major surgery.

I could remember that day as if it were yesterday. I had just gotten better from having pneumonia and they said it was okay for me to see her before she goes into surgery so we all went straight to the hospital and I wouldn’t leave her side until she went into surgery. I could remember looking into her eyes and her smiling at me and seeing her innocence come out as if we had switched roles. She looked so helpless like a little girl, and she was so scared. I wanted to cry with her but I just smiled at her and told her that everything was going to be okay and said when she got better we were going to the casino to celebrate. When she broke a smile deep down I knew that everything was going to be okay however, I never stopped praying.

About five trips to the vending machines for caffeinated drinks and snacks, one trip to the cafeteria for lunch and nine hours later the doctor comes out and tells us that the surgery was a success. Even though visiting hours were over they let me go in and see her before I went home and after days of sleepless nights worrying about my Nana, I slept like a baby. It just goes to prove that when you have that much strength and courage, you can make it through anything especially when you have a loving family and strong faith. It also helps that you go to the doctor and treat your illnesses properly.


I.G.