Monday, May 5th is the day that Vaughn started his new job. Here is how it all came to be. I have to go way back in time, so hopefully I can make sense of it all!
Back in 2006 Vaughn was offered a job with Willamette Dental in Twin Falls. (His first ever after graduating Hygiene school) He worked there for 2 years, and loved it, before being seduced by a local dentist to work for him. So we quit Willamette and worked for this private practice in Jerome for about six months. Things didn't go well with this new office, but Willamette had already filled Vaughn's position (which we knew they would) so that was not an option to go back. We moved to Utah and on the same day that Vaughn was offered a job by Today's Dental Care, he was also offered a job with Willamette in Coeur D'Alene, ID. Since we had our house in Jerome and it wasn't selling we decided to stay with the Today's Dental Care job.
Fast forward almost five years! In February Vaughn was contacted by the HR dept at Willamette telling him that they were coming back to Twin Falls and wanted him to apply. It was truly an answer to our prayers! We loved working for TDC, but financially, it just didn't make sense to stay there. Since Vaughn had worked for Willamette Dental in the past we were not hesitant to apply for this job at all.
We sent in his resume and he had an interview scheduled before the end of that week. Vaughn has kept in contact with his old boss, Eric, and was excited that he was the one that would be doing the hiring for this position.
Fast forward to the interview and it was a long interview! Of course, I was waiting at home just chewing my nails wondering what is happening and being said. I should have known that they were just catching up and shooting the breeze for 99% of the interview! The other 1% was Eric telling Vaughn about what benefits have changed and things like that.
On the way out of the interview Vaughn noticed the girl, that replaced him when he first left, sitting there waiting to be interviewed. That made him a little nervous that he was going up against another candidate that worked there as well, but he felt good about the conversation he had with Eric and knew that if it was meant to be that it would happen.
In the end Vaughn was offered the job and eventually Vaughn put in his notice with TDC. It was so hard for him. He struggled with it a lot. Emotionally, it was hard to say goodbye to the staff and mostly to his patients. He truly loves his patients and has watched a lot of them grow up.
So Vaughn started on May 5th and had to do a week of training in Portland and then two weeks of training in Idaho Falls (he'd be home for the week-ends)
Vaughn flew to Portland the same day that we found out that my mom has cancer. She called and said that the test and biopsy had come back positive for uterine cancer. I was shocked. She said that there were a few spots on her spine and a few suspicious spots in her lungs. I think I was in shock for a good two or three days. I was able to go down to meet with the doctor with my mom and it made it seem so much more real. They scheduled a hysterectomy and a bone biopsy in her spine.
She went in and did the biopsy on her back and seemed to do pretty well. A few days later we met with her oncologist. She said that she didn't have the results yet, but it looked like it had spread to the bones and that is what the radiologist had noted that in his notes as well.
We asked what we could expect for a time frame if it did come back positive and my mom decided not to do chemo. I asked if she had a couple of years left and the doctor said no, we were looking at months. Like 12-18 months. We were shocked and devastated. It was such a blow.
My sister in law had my kids and I had to pick them up and then headed back home to Idaho. I cried the whole way home. I just could not believe that my mom would be taken from us so quickly. I honestly can say that I felt like I could die from my broken heart.
Then something happened on my drive home.
My mom called to see where I was and told me that my aunt Kaye had a neighbor that she wanted my mom to talk with, and I found out that one of my pregnant friends who was told that she would HAVE to have a c-section because of where her placenta was, found out that it had corrected itself, when the doctor said there was absolutely no hope of it doing so. I realized that the tests had not come back yet and we really had no idea what it was going to say, so I sent an SOS for prayers and we had a fast the next day.
I know that everything is in our Heavenly Father's hands, but I just couldn't give up hope. I figured that I would pray with all my might for the biopsy to come back negative, and then if and only then, if it came back positive would I pray to understand the will of Heavenly Father. (May not be the best way to go about it, but I just HAD to keep a glimmer of hope!)
The next afternoon around lunch time I was talking to my mom while she was at work and her cell phone rang and it was her doctors office. She called me a few minutes later and it the test results were...
NEGATIVE!!!
I was speechless. I don't use words like overjoyed, but I don't know how else to describe it. I was so grateful and I knew that it was honestly an answer to my and everyone else's prayers. It was truly a miracle. I know without a doubt that it was a miracle for us.
This all took place within the month of May and I honestly can say that May was the hardest month of my entire life. It was so hard having Vaughn away during the week, making sure Drew made it to his baseball practices and games and the emotional roller coaster of dealing with my mom's illness. I felt so very lonely and alone at times and I know that I only made it through because of my Heavenly Father. His love and comfort definitely strengthened me.
