Growing up, it is easy to take for granted all of the things your mom does for you. From freshly cooked meals, to always clean laundry, life always seemed pretty simple - until it wasn't. On April 29th, 2019 my mom had brain surgery, which made her not able to do anything for three months. After her surgery, my dad and I have learned how to cook more than just a burnt pizza and take on the things mom used to do since my sister is off working. Many lessons have been learned since her surgery. I will be talking about how we prepared for her surgery, the recovery process, and how I am still impacted by it.

On March 10th my mom and dad sat down with my sister and me and told us that my mom needed to have surgery to remove an acoustic neuroma tumor in her brain.   This moment would change life for my family and me a lot. The side effects were much more than not being able to lift 10 pounds and feeling dizzy constantly. Mom was always resting and not able to do much. This made me more responsible as a kid and a person. Before the surgery we were just in the process of getting ready, my sister taught my dad and me how to do things around the house such as doing the laundry or how to water the flowers the right way. Mom also coordinated all of our schedules for sports, school, and work. For once we all had to be accountable for what was going on. I also had to prepare myself mentally. You have to think about what is going to happen and what you are going to have to deal with.

Waking up at three in the morning is not my ideal time for a Monday morning.  I ate my Lucky Charms in a record time of three minutes, then we were on our way down to Rochester. During her surgery, we had to sit in a plain, cold, waiting room for eight hours.  I would take mini breaks to walk around the hospital, but other than that it was a lot of sitting. Eating lunch there was an interesting experience with all the people just running around trying to find the food they want. It felt like the high school cafeteria, except much larger. Personally, I thought that it was really good but I think my sister and my dad would have to disagree.   Maybe it was because the school was having sub sandwiches that day. Eight hours is a really long time to sit and worry. My grandpa drove all the way from South Dakota to be with us. Our pastor also showed up to visit for a while. I think that my grandpa and he got along really well since they exchanged stories for two hours. Until this time, I never really realized all that hospitals are, as I had never spent much time in one before.  Hospitals are terrifying. Mom had to spend one night in the Intensive Care Unit specialized for people with brain surgeries. Just walking around the ICU floor was scary. People there are really sick. The next few days after the surgery my dad and my sister went up to see her every day and I went to school. The days were long and everyone was always asking about how she was doing or why I missed school the day earlier. I felt a little annoyed, I just wanted to think about school and forget what was going on.  It was also hard because I was always worried about her. After four days she came home and could not do much at all. The final part to think about is how her recovery will impact the future.

Almost right after we got home, family and friends started to stop by, bringing us food and flowers. It’s like they knew all my dad could make is burnt pizza. I did not really appreciate the flowers as much as my mom did. All I could think about was that I would have to water twice the amount that we already had. Before we knew it, our house felt like an indoor-garden and we had meals coming out our ears. The first two weeks,  four out of the five school nights I had baseball games and on the weekends I had basketball. I had to learn to speak up and ask people for rides when I needed them. In the middle of May, I like to call it the marathon of celebrations because of Mothers Day, my moms birthday, and my sisters birthday.

This year it was not like a usual birthday for mom. We all spent time with her around the house, but we were not able to go out and do things like we normally would.   Next year we will really have to celebrate.

After this whole experience, I am really hoping that Saint Mary’s hospital never shows up again in the life of my family. This whole situation has taught me what it means to step up and be there for your family and friends. I have learned what it looks like to be there for someone through the thick and thin. In the past, it is easy to see others go through terrible circumstances, but it is an entirely different situation when something happens to you and your family.  I also have more respect for people that have gone through things like this. I hope to be there for people more in the future. As my mom starts to get better, I will not forget the nice things that other people did for my family and will always try to be kind to someone that I know is going through a tough time.

When my mom and dad sat us down that day in March to tell us the news of mom’s brain tumor, I don’t think any of us really understood what was coming.  We prepared as well as we could, but how do you prepare for something like that? During the recovery, my dad, my sister and I all pitched in to get us through.  Now I know a lot more about what it feels like to go through a hard time. Everyone goes through things in life and hopefully they make you a better person in the end.