Christmas miracle! Terminally ill country singer Joey Feek finds the strength to get out of hospice bed and play with daughter Indy
- Joey Feek, 40, who is terminally ill with stage IV cervical cancer, was able to get out of bed and play with her daughter Indiana on Friday
- Late last month, Joey's husband Rory said in a letter to her friends and fans that his wife was bedridden and no longer able to get up
- Joey and Rory learned earlier this week that they had been nominated for a Grammy award for their song If I Needed You
- Joey said her one wish is to make it to daughter Indiana's second birthday in February
- The country star was released from hospital in October so she could spend more time with Indiana and say goodbye to her stepdaughters
Joey Feek shared a heartwarming and inspiring photo with her fans on Friday of the terminally ill country star out of bed and playing with her toddler daughter Indiana.
The picture showed 40-year-old Joey and Indiana surrounded by toys, and the caption read; 'It's 60 and sunny outside today and even brighter inside.. Joey's out of bed teaching signs to Indy on the floor.'
Late last month, Joey's husband Rory revealed in a letter to her friends and fans that his wife is no longer able to get out of bed, so it seems she has rallied slightly.
It has been a big week for Joey, who is stage IV cervical cancer, as she also learned on Monday that she and Rory had been nominated for a Grammy award for their song If I Needed You.
Joey has said that her one wish is to live long enough to celebrate Indiana's second birthday next February.
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Amazing news: Joey Feek, who is terminally ill with stage IV cervical cancer, was able to get out of bed and play with her daughter Indiana on Friday
Huge news: Joey and Rory learned earlier this week that they had been nominated for a Grammy award for their song If I Needed You. Here they are pictured in 2010
Improving: Late last month, Joey's husband Rory revealed in a letter to her friends and fans that his wife (pictured in November with Indiana) was no longer able to get out of bed
Rory wrote on Monday after the two learned they had been nominated for for Best Country Duo/Group Performance; 'As her excitement and tears flowed into mine. She said, "how can that be?"
'The song received no radio airplay... no press... no critical acclaim... and the only music video we made for it was to celebrate the day our little Indiana was born.
'God is so good. Thank you, thank you, thank you.'
The couple are living back in Joey's home town of Alexandria, Indiana, after she made the decision to stop treatment and start hospice care in her long battle with cervical cancer.
One last time: Late last month, Rory shared a photo of the couple enjoying what may be their last slow dance
Heartbreaking: Joey recently shared a photo of herself and daughter Indiana in matching beanie hats with knitted braids
Fighter: Joey has undergone radical surgery, radiation and chemotherapy since first being diagnosed in June 2014 with cancer. This photo was posted pm to the couple's website by Rory
Joey has undergone radical surgery, radiation and chemotherapy since first being diagnosed in June 2014.
And even though her health has been failing, Joey is determined to win her battle with the disease.
'There isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t look me and her family in the eye and say “I’m gonna beat this”, or “I’m getting better, I believe that”. And she asks me if I believe it, and I do,' wrote Rory on Sunday.
He wrote towards the end of his letter; 'Though now, she can no longer get out of bed - she is so sharp and clear and her pain, for the most part, is so under control by the medicine that talking to her - you would think she’s her normal self.
'Thinner. Much thinner. And with a hip new hairdo.
'But she is beautiful. So so so beautiful.
'When God begins to take the light from the outside… the light inside just shines all that much brighter.
'It’s amazing. She’s amazing.'
He also shared a photo of the couple enjoying what could be their last slow dance together.
'In the middle of the song though, as I was being careful not to step on her toes – she stopped and looked up at me and said, “How about if I lead?,"' wrote Rory.
'And I followed her lead as we slowly two-stepped on her mama’s living room floor.
'Like dancing, she wants to do this right, or not do it at all… to share the good, the bad, and the beautiful.'
The couple, who have released six albums together, were married on June 15, 2002.
Memories: Joey hugs her stepdaughters and daughter Indiana in a photo posted last week
Difficult decision: The country star was released from the hospital in October so she could spend more time with Indiana and say goodbye to her stepdaughters. Here she is pictured on Rory's blog
Farewell: 'She told them how much she loved them, and how proud she is of them. And how proud she is to be their mother,' wrote Rory of the emotional experience of Joey saying goodbye to her stepdaughters (above)
In another letter from last week posted on his blog, Rory shared how difficult it has been for Joey to realize she may not be there for their children in the future.
After a neighbor sent the couple a message about how their own special needs child was learning to ride horses and they could not wait for Indiana to join them, Joey broke down and told her husband; 'I want to raise our baby ... I want to be the one to teach her.'
Her tears faded a short while later however when it began to snow outside.
'I didn’t think I’d get to see snow again,' Rory said his wife told him.
'And she looked at me, then raised her eyes up at sky and said "if this is the last snow I ever see, thank you Jesus… thank you."'
Rory also posted a video on to celebrate Indiana being 21-months-old, featuring a then-pregnant Joey on social media.
'We're going to sleep tonight remembering the morning we welcomed (Indiana) into the world. We had no idea when we woke up that day what a gift God was about to give us,' Rory wrote.
Joey left the hospital to begin hospice care in October so she could spend as much time as possible with daughter Indiana and say goodbye to Rory's teenage daughters from a previous relationship, Heidi and Hopie.
'She told them how much she loved them, and how proud she is of them. And how proud she is to be their mother,' wrote Rory of the emotional experience.
'And then she talked with them about the one thing that she didn’t think she would ever have to talk with them about: Leaving them.
'And then she told them of the day when they’ll be together again in Heaven.'
Rory later added; 'From the porch we all smiled because we knew in that instant, that no matter what happens, Joey will always be with us.'
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