Emotional Roller Coaster

This last two weeks have been a roller coaster ride of emotions without experiencing the thrill of the ride. Noel’s mother has been fighting cancer for a year and a half. Noel has been looking after her in addition to working full time. He wasn’t able to take a vacation last year and with the added stress of his mom’s illness, he was in need of an extended period of rest. But alas, that was not to be…

Señora Toral’s kidneys had stopped working efficiently before he left, but they were treating the problem and her body was responding to the treatment. The doctor’s had stopped the chemotherapy until her kidneys resumed working. Not long after Noel arrived here, he received word that her kidneys were working again and she was looking and feeling much better. We went on to New York and had a wonderful time. However, even while he was enjoying his visit, his mind was not 100% there. While we were gone, the oncologist decided to go ahead with a half-dose of the chemotherapy in order to keep the tumors under control. This past Sunday, Noel’s family called him while we were eating dinner. He talked to them and was able to speak to his mom. She told him that she was feeling good and not to worry about her.

Unfortunately, the situation quickly went down hill after that call. She rapidly declined in health and her kidneys quit working again. All of this past week until yesterday, he has thought about nothing else but his mom and how he wasn’t there to help her. He kept in constant communication with his family by text, chat, and phone calls. After a lot of thought, my family and I decided that he needed to get back to Mexico early. We took care of the arrangements and I took him to the airport yesterday morning to catch the first available flight out. He arrived there late last night and went straight to see his mom. This morning I received and email from him telling me that she had changed so much physically from when he last saw her. He could tell that she was enduring much suffering. That information is the last I have heard from him for now.

We went from the high of seeing each other again and taking a trip to New York to the low of dealing with this latest news about his mother’s sickness. There were moments of levity but for the most part, worry and wanting to be there consumed all of his moments here. She is in God’s hands now. He is in total control of her situation. All of the family knows it’s only a matter of time before He calls her home. Please pray for them. They need all the support they can get now.