[Mod-LadyCoconut]

My Granny has rectal cancer and over the summer sucessfully underwent chemo and radiation. Unfortunately, she has not really regained control of her anal muscles and now needs a colostomy. The surgery itself is minor, only about 30 minutes or so, and we think it will make a huge impact on her quality of life because she's spent the last month or so just tied up in her bathroom all the time. But she only weighs barely 85 pounds and she'll be 95 in a couple weeks... so it's still very scary for her. We're all really optimistic, but prayers are always greatly appreciated. If you have some time to think of her -- she's having her surgery today at 12:30PM EST. Thanks.

Here we are at her old house where my whole life she measured me in her pantry doorway... she finally had to bust out the foot stool when I surpassed her 4'10"


Here we are on my bday this year -- she was in the middle of all of her radiation treatments when this photo was taken. Not bad, eh?


Here are some from when Rilo and I flew out to CA to surprise her one weekend




Anyway... please keep her in your thoughts and prayers over the next few days. I have class today, then going straight to the hospital, will be back tonight, work tomorrow, and then I'm spending the night with her in the hospital tomorrow night... so I might not be around a whole lot. Thanks girls!

[Mars]

Oh Shannon, I hope everything goes well for your granny. I'll be thinking of you all and praying for you all. Your ganny is an adorable lady and those pics just melt my heart. I hope everything goes well with the surgery.

[~Caroline~]

Aww, your granny is adorable! I'll be thinking of her today.

[*Anna*]

Your granny is in my prayers today!!!!

[Emma&Jack's Momma]

I will def. be thinking about you and your family! I loved the pic of her holding "baby" Rilo!!! Made me tear up a bit, actually! I will pray for her to heal quickly!

[♥Ashley♥]

She is in my prayers! I know all about what she is about to go through my company sells medical supplies and we staff ostomy nurses, to help men and women who just went through the surgery. Its a life changing thing, but EVERY single person we talk to says it has improved their quality of life by 100%, not always having to worry about being in the bathroom. GL to her!

[LisanAndy]

Definitely praying Shannon! ((HUGS))

Your granny seems like an awesome lady. She is for sure in my thoughts today. KUP

[Patriciamomofboys]

She looks like such a nice grandma! I'll be thinking of her.

She is so cute Shannon! I love the one of her holding Rilo. She will be in my t&p. I can only imagine how hard life has been for her without control of her bowels. I hope this procedure gives her back her independence.

[soImarriedAnerd]

T&Ps and

[~*sierra*~]

T&P for your granny shannon - i feel like i know her from all the times you've talked about her.
*hugs*

[Kiwi]

Lots of T&P's coming your way.

[Kristen_at_the_lake]

I'll be keeping your grandmother in my thoughts and prayers.

[ScottishBrit]

awwww, she's so cute!!! Ill kepe he rin my thoughts!

[Resi]

I hope everything goes well. Hugs.

[Mod-LadyCoconut]

So the surgery went GREAT! The nurses took the time to hear about her life and what a strong, independent lady she is before the surgery... and I think that really helped things go smoothly. They did say they were surprised before they met her, kind of thinking 'why are we even going to bother operating on someone about to turn 95?" but they said she had them all laughing and cracking jokes before she went under. They said she did wonderful through the surgery. There were 7 of us waiting in the surgical waiting room for her. Once she was basically done in the recovery area they didn't have a room ready for her... so they said my mom and I could go back and see her. She's just so ######ed cute. She wakes up/opens her eyes and said "Oh I am SO glad I'm here..." she said she wasn't sure she'd wake up or not. Then she asked how WE were doing, lol. Then I guess she noticed she was in pain and moaned "I think I need to go to the hospital" haha. It was so cute, especially since she didn't have her teeth in so she was looking like little old lady times about a billion. So my mom and I went back into the waiting area where we waited HOURS for them to get her a room! Finally, she got one... we all went in and we're huddled all around her bed basically watching her sleep/waiting for her to come to again. She wakes up and is like "Did I have the surgery? is it over?" and is just SO precious. Because she'll be in the bed for 3-4 days they have those cuffs on her legs that puff up (like blood pressure ones) every few minutes to prevent blood clots or whatever and all of a sudden it goes off and she's like "oh, by the way, something is wrong with my left leg (all non-chalant) ... its puffing up, but its probably okay, it' sbeen doing it a while." but the best thing she said... we were all standing there talking, she nodded off, we all stood EXACTLY where we were and about a min and a half later she opens her eyes and goes "oh! you're back! where did you guys go?" hahaha.

Anyway, she's in pain, obviously, but came through like a CHAMP! I am so very proud of her, and I hope her recovery continues to go well. Mom is staying with her tonight, and when I get off work tomorrow I'll ride up and spend the night tomorrow. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts girls... if you've got em, keep em coming!

[Alison81]

She sounds SO adorable!! I am glad she is doing okay. Definitely sending prayers her way, she sounds like a great lady.

And the funnies about after surgery remind me of my grandmother. I came to visit her one day, and brought pizza, because it's one of her favs. It was 6pm in the evening. She was eating her pizza and then says, "where did you buy pizza so early in the morning, I didn't know they sold pizza at 6am" I was like, no, it's 6pm, I just came here from work, the day is almost over. She nodded, but looked confused. A few minutes later she was like, "thanks for the pizza, it's so early to be eating pizza, and don't you have to go to work? I can't believe you came here so early." Eventually I was just like, well, I like the mornings, LOL, because she kept making comments about how early I came to see her.

[lauren in hi]

What an amazing woman, Shan! She sounds a lot like my 91 yo grandpa. I'm glad the surgery was a success!

Your granny is amazing! I read her post surgery comments to Dustin and he was lol. She will continue to be in my thoughts.