Last week I received an email from Close to my Heart telling me that I had earned a spot in the Spotlight on Art segment of Jeanette Lynton’s Blog!!! I was completely BLOWN AWAY when I received the news!!!
I had submitted my Flakey Friends/Pun Fun cards using Dakota in late October and received a quick note 4 days later thanking me for my submission. When I read the email, I figured that I had not been chosen. SO much to my surprise when I checked my email last Tuesday, I had indeed been chosen and it was being featured THAT DAY!! I was SO excited that someone could have slapped me and I would have still been smiling! LOL
I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason….this could NOT have come at a better time in my life….
Let me explain why….
4 1/2 years ago in August of 2008, my SIL (my hubby’s sister) was diagnosed with Leiomyosarcoma (uterine sarcoma) cancer. When she was diagnosed, she was given 6 months to live which was devastating to us all! She immediately had a complete hysterectomy and started her chemo treatments within the month.
Her first round of chemo treatments proved to be successful! Her scans showed the cancer to be gone! But towards the end of that first year, her cancer had moved to her lungs and liver. By November 2009 she was on her second round of chemo with the hopes of slowing down the growth. She was told that any chemo treatment from here on out would be to extend her life, but that curing her cancer was not a possibility.
Over the next 3 years after many hours of research by not only the dr. but my hubby, they would try several different chemo treatments and even go on to try some trials that had shown success. Some were successful at shrinking the tumors that had grown on her liver and her lungs. But unfortunately that success was not long lasting as the cancer was spreading through her body like wildfire. After trying radiation to shrink a mass in her abdomen, she stopped any and all treatments in the summer of 2012.
Rhonda was admitted to the Hospice House on Wednesday, November 21st 2012 and passed away 3 weeks later on Friday, December 14th 2012. She fought to the bitter end…as we expected she would!
When I received the notification of being featured in the Spotlight on Art, I was at lunch with my hubby after a LONG night at the Hospice House. My heart was heavy and my eyes burned from the tears that kept welling up in my eyes that day. Jeanette provided a BRIGHT moment in my day and words cannot express what it meant to me to be in the Spotlight during such a dark period in my life. This moment will never be forgotten….
thank you all SO much for your kind comments! I have lost 4 very close family members to cancer and I hope there are no more….
Congrats on the Spotlight. Well deserved. And I am so sorry for your loss. My SIL is currently dealing with cancer. It's her second type of cancer and is not treatable. They can only keep trying to remove it surgically, but it's very aggressive and, well, it's tough. Big HUGS to you all.
Jen, your sister in law sounds like a wonderful person who will truly be missed! I'm sure she is smiling down from Heaven now watching over your family.
Your cards are adorable!! My workshop group is working with the Dakota paper and Flakey Friends stamp in January. You have given me some great ideas! Congratulations on being in the spotlight!
Jen, I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my cousin (and best friend) to cancer back in 2003. She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer at the age of 30 in January of that year, and by mid-October, was gone. She went through tons of radiation and chemo. We were right there with her helping her with her daily tasks so that she could concentrate on healing. Again, I'm so very sorry for your loss. May you find peace in your time of sadness. God bless.