GAGE part 2.

It was Valentines Day 2012. Gage was scheduled to get his 3 month scan to make sure he was in the clear and his tumor had not returned. Although, we were all a little bit nervous, we were mostly confident that this visit would be good news. I was at Old Navy looking for little Valentine gifts for my kids for our annual candlelight dinner that night when I got the call. It was Gretchen. I answered and what I heard on the other end stopped me in my tracks. Through a voice I could barely understand bc she was crying so hard the words "Gage's brain tumor is back and its growing toward the brain stem. They have to go back in for surgery." I was once again at a loss for words. That all too familiar helpless feeling hit me again like a ton of bricks. All I could say was "I'm so so sorry." Needless to say, our Valentine festivities were sullen. We were quiet with our minds racing of what may be this time. Questions like 'what does this mean? will it be cancerous this time? will Gage be okay? What if...." the unthinkable.

A few weeks passed and we all tried to go about "normal" life with pits in our stomach waiting for surgery day. A few days before Gage's surgery would take, my boys tutor, named Jamie Cheney, was at our house. I was telling her the story and expressing my thoughts on how helpless I felt. I didn't know what to do. Jamie started to tell me about a 5k she had done for her neighbor that needed help with medical bills.. And a LIGHT went off in my mind, a feeling came over me, YES! I CAN DO THAT!! I CAN HELP RAISE MONEY! Suddenly, I didn't feel so helpless, and THAT gave me a purpose! I know how to do a 5k! I have run them before! It won't be that hard!! What could really go into it! We just plan and people will come! I wish I could take credit for such a genius idea, but it wasn't mine. However, I thank God for Jamie every day for planting that seed.  I got on the phone that night and told Gretchen "I'm going to do a 5k for you!! Maybe we can make some money to help with the growing medical bills, it won't be much, but anything helps right?!!" Through tears, all she could say was "thank you." Then I called Cameron, he said "Let's do a Bowl-A-Thon also! We can use the facility for free and all proceeds can go to Gage!" Then I called Gretchen's friend Brooke Amidei..she excitedly was on board and said "I will be in charge of the Silent Auction and help get sponsors!" ...this is where I got a little nervous...
So within a 48 hour time period, our little 5k had turned into something much bigger than I could have dreamed.
We quickly put together a Facebook page, created a blog, got our run advertised on 'Utahrunners.com and braced ourselves for a long day of surgery.
 
SURGERY DAY:
Gretchen, Troy, Gage and I arrived at Primary Children's Medical Center at 6:15 a.m. on February 29, 2012.  Gage was in pretty good spirits, Gretchen and Troy were trying to be so brave for him. We waited in waiting room after waiting room as the Doctors and surgeons got prepared for what would end up being a grueling 12 hour surgery. This time was different. We knew what to expect PERSAY...but it was brain surgery. Gage was only 4 years old. We were still so afraid. I tried to stay in the background and let those three have their time together. I knew what was in both of their minds..I knew the unthinkable was being thought..and I knew that the unthinkable could be a reality. The thought was unbearable. We forced ourselves to go on faith. To be positive and try to be strong. We smiled at Gage, reassured him and let him know that "every little thing was going to be alright."
Then the time came for Gage to be taken in. I watched and took photos of Gretchen and Troy saying 'goodbye' to their brave little superhero. "Goodbye sweet angel, we will be here waiting for you when you wake up..we love you, be brave buddy!"

Shortly thereafter, mom and dad arrived, John and Diane arrived, {Troy's parents} then Zach, Cameron, Ryan, Trevor and of course Matt Alba.. Who is their friend that is always first on the scene. We waited..tried to keep ourselves busy. The nurse in the Operating room would call every hour with an update, as we received updates, we would update the cyber world. And within hours, we had hundreds of followers praying for our little Gage, hitting "refresh" on their computers and waiting for any kind of news. A 4 year old beautiful boy had already won over the hearts of so many.
We immediately felt the love, the prayers, the thoughts, the support. We cried at each new comment and every new "like." We were shocked at how many people were caring about our Gage.

After 8 hours Doctor Walker called and said "I'm going to close him up, take him in for an MRI and depending on what I see, we will either go back in or be done." Well, the tumor was still there. He had to go back in. This was Gage's 2nd MRI for the day thus far. We paced the hallways, tried to laugh, had running races down the hallways of the hospital, tried to keep our minds busy. Hours passed. We were impatiently being patient. At this point, it was me, Gretch, Troy, John, Diane, and mom and dad that were there.
There was a big snowstorm happening outside. It seemed fitting.
Then Dr. Walker called again..same thing.."I'm closing him up and taking him in for another MRI. If the tumor is gone, we will be done..if it's not, we will go back in." It was now around 5:30 p.m. We waited. And we waited some more. Finally after about an hour and half, Gretchen received the call...we stood around her as she fell into tears and exclaimed "IT'S GONE???!! IT'S GONE!!!" Tears of joy were shed, relief felt was an understatement. We embraced and cried and cried some more. I took photos for our loved ones so that they could share in this joy with us. We walked down the hallway to the ICU and waited for our Gage. It was here that I finally, personally fell apart. I couldn't stop crying. I could not get a grip. The anxiety, the fear, the emotion, the exhaustion, the 'trying to be strong for them' all came undone for me. And I prayed to Heavenly Father in my mind and Thanked him over and over again for giving us this miracle.

Part 3 "Our events"