A Decade Later

In the fall of 2001 my mom was extremely ill. She was down to 80 pounds soaking wet and had to have a feeding tube placed in order to get her body strong enough to handle surgery. She battled from September through to December and it was touch and go a few times. We thought that we would be lucky to have her around for a few more years but boy has she shown us. Ten years after her harrowing health ordeal she is thriving and doing things no one thought would be possible. Not only is she living a 'normal' existence she has taken up running. When she first started running she was cautioned that without a stomach (she had a gastrectomy in 2001) she shouldn't run over 5km at a time. Never one to listen to anyone she was up to 10km in no time at all. Then the medical professionals told her that was as far as she should go. I think that she likes to prove them wrong because this spring she trained for and completed her first half marathon. Now in one month we will be lining up together in Vegas to run a half marathon. I bet she didn't think 10 years ago when she was pushing her IV pole around the nurses station building up from one lap to two that she would one day be trying to better her 13.1 mile run time. Wish her doctors could see her now, and I just hope that they don't tell her a marathon is out of the question. They may have fixed her stomach but they didn't do a stubbornectomy and a decade later she still is unable to hear the words can't and shouldn't!

Kiki's Kulinary

Raw Falafel and Tomato Basil Bisque