Family comes first for Melissa Joan Hart. So when the Sabrina the Teenage Witch star’s mother, Paula, underwent an intense eight-hour surgery on a brain tumor in June, the actress and her family leaned on each other for support.

“I was beyond worried but had faith,” Melissa tells In Touch. “I had to be patient. It was tough. Having all six of my siblings there made it easier. We tried to distract ourselves with games in the waiting room. I even stupidly challenged my brother to a push-up competition!” Paula’s surgery was a success, but Melissa, 33, wanted to do more to help her mom’s recovery — so she and her husband, Mark Wilkerson, recently uprooted their family from Los Angeles to Connecticut to be closer to Paula. “We moved 3,000 miles away, we left behind our house and our friends — it’s very hard,” says Melissa. “But it’s for my mom!”

One aspect of Melissa’s life that’s on pause? The diet and exercise routine that resulted in her much-publicized 50-pound weight loss. “It’s hard because I’m stressed out with the move and everything and eating a lot of traveling food — Starbucks breakfasts, that kind of thing,” Melissa admits. “I have to find a new program here and fit it in my schedule, and just watch what I eat until I can get to the gym. It’s difficult, but I did it before and I can do it again!”

Source, Fame Pictures