As everyone went from the surgical waiting area to the waiting area where the mother would be moved to after post OP the husband pulled the youngest daughter to the side.

He started the conversation by asking if the daughter understood exactly what the doctor said. He said he already expected to hear it. He knew it was only a matter of time. That he’d already begun making moves. He said he'd been worried about his wife's money. She had a bank account he was not a part of. He went on to say that he took her bank card and had been making daily withdrawals of 1,000. That was her bank's daily ATM withdraw limit and he couldn't go in and withdraw any more since his name wasn't on her account. (Again they kept separate accounts for the IRS purpose) He continued saying since the doctor said there was nothing left to do he needed to make sure all the money was out of her account before she died or else he’d have to go through a lot of steps and have to wait a long time before he’d get to see that money.

To say the daughter was disgusted by what was coming out of his mouth would be an understatement. How could this man who claimed to love her mother for 30 years be talking about getting her money out of the bank only hours after finding out they only had a couple of weeks left with her? How could money be what was on his mind? Shouldn't he be thinking about is wife not her money? Did he not care what this looked like? What HE looked like?

It really shouldn’t have been a surprise to the daughter, money was always what was on that man's mind. Of course he’d want to make sure he got every single penny of his wife's money from her account. And honestly that is fine, but it should NOT be what is on his mind an hour after finding out his wife was dying and he definitely shouldn't be talking about it to her daughter.

Fighting the urge not to completely snap at the man standing in front of her the daughter kept her composure and told him they would figure it out, not to worry that her mother was what they should be focusing on right now. The husband agreed, but not before saying that it was very important to get that money out and time was of the essence.

He even went on to say he had social security disability checks in the mother's name that needed to be cashed and if they weren’t cashed before she passed away he’d lose out on all that money. After again saying they'd figure it out the daughter walked away. In her mind that was yet another moment that would never leave her. That was the moment he yet again showed his true colors. There was no doubt in her mind what he truly cared about. MONEY.

Money was so much on this man's mind, that knowing the mom had a matter of days to live tried to open a second life insurance policy on her. Maybe this was his way of recouping the $15,000 he openly complained he had lost from his wife losing her life insurance policy from her previous employer. The fact that it would be insurance fraud didn’t even cross his mind. Phone calls were made to see if he could expedite the life insurance process his employer had for spouses. It was offered to all that were on their medical insurance program and because she had recently been added to his policy he believed that she should also be eligible for life insurance. Thankfully nothing ever came of those calls. In order to get life insurance on someone they have to be healthy and not given a couple of weeks to live. He was extremely disappointed when he realized there would be no extra money coming to him.

Her mom's money was the last thing anyone needed to be worried about at the moment so the daughter decided to just forget about what the husband told her. It would only cause problems if she decided to tell her brother and sister what he was already making a fuss about. That conversation would have to wait for another time. She would definitely tell her sister, but an hour or so after getting the awful news about their mom was not the time.

Not long after everyone gathered in the waiting room the mother was wheeled into her new room, her whole family stuck around to see her. They all wanted to make sure she was okay after her surgery. She was only half wake due to the anesthesia when everyone gathered around her. She seemed surprised and happy to see everyone there through her haze. She said hi to her family and let them all know she was okay. She was still very tired, but looked good and didn't seem to be in any pain. That part made her family happy. It seemed like forever since they'd seen their mom in no pain.

The doctors let her family know that she wasn’t aware of the surgery outcome, that she didn’t yet know there was nothing left to be done. It was decided by her family to wait a little bit, to give her time to get a little strength before they told her the horrible news. They also wanted to wait to speak to her oncologist and have her present when speaking to the mother. They weren't sure how to let the mom know what was to happen. They didn't think they'd have the words and there was no way they could do it alone. They all agreed that they needed help.

After resting a few hours the mother fully awake stated that she wasn’t even aware that she had been in another surgery. She asked everyone how things were and they just told her they didn't know and were waiting to know just like she was. That was enough for the mother because though she was awake she still was not fully lucid. The disease and surgeries had taken their toll on her mind by this time. It was clear that she was not fully herself any longer.

Coming to that conclusion hadn't been easy. It wasn't something anyone wanted to admit. They only had a short time left with her and it was sad that she wasn't fully herself any longer. It was okay though, she was still here and they were going to enjoy every second they could with their mom.

The mom's family stayed to visit as she was in and out of consciousness. Slowly her brothers and sister left. Her husband and children were the only ones left. It had been an extremely long day. They all decided to have a quick dinner together and the mother was given her medication and was to be out for the night. The husband was staying overnight with his wife and her children were to go home for the night. They all agreed to get some sleep and be back early the next morning.

That was what they would be doing for the length of their mom's stay. The husband would stay the night and her children would be back early mornings till late nights. Everyone wanted to spend as much time with her as they could.

That would be their lives for the next few weeks, the hospital day and night. Nobody complained though.

Once the anesthesia wore off from her surgery completely it was nice seeing their mom awake and talking a bit more. The doctors had set up an IV machine to give her continuous medication to keep her pain bearable. They were told she'd have to be on IV medication from now on. Her body was no longer absorbing anything so pills and anything else she swallowed would just be pushed out of the tube they placed in her belly.

The mother's family was in and out visiting her, her brothers and sister, her mom, and a lot of her cousins. People that she hadn’t seen in years showed up to visit. That’s usually what happened, when a person was sick in the hospital, they want to see you before its too late. She enjoyed seeing everyone, talking to everyone and reminiscing about the good old days.

It was good seeing their mom enjoying her family. She'd always been a big family person so having the revolving door of family members stopping by put a smile on her face.

Start Chapter 10 - Their Mother's Wishes