“I was a complete and total workaholic-girl-boss with my own business. I started noticing headaches often and having spit-up episodes. Part of me thought it was anxiety. These episodes, I found out, were seizures.”
‘I felt DRUNK. I had to spit in a cup two or three times daily and I could barely walk straight. ‘You have a baseball-sized tumor in your head.’: Health coach battles brain cancer and experimental surgery
‘The nurse came in as I was flailing. ‘I don’t want to go!’ The ambulance thought I was 80, not 8.’: Woman celebrates 20 years brain tumor free, ‘My hope is to give back’
“My parents sat me down and told me I was going to need surgery. An 8-year-old, I cried and cried. I didn’t want to go in. When I woke in the recovery room, I learned it couldn’t be removed. We were devastated.”
‘Do you want my boys? We don’t want them anymore.’ They were broken. We were at a crossroad.’: Mom adopts teenage twins, one with brain tumor, ‘We are still here as a family‘
“Tears would well up in Victor’s eyes. ‘Why didn’t she love me?’ Those days were over. ‘Mom? If I’m being admitted, it means I have to stay here, right?’ I said, ‘Then that means I’m staying here too.’ We were going to pick up the pieces.”
‘That’s not normal.’ I took her to the ER. ‘Mommy, I want my fingers and toes to get all wrinkley.’: Mom thankful for those who helped ‘walking miracle’ daughter beat cancer
“‘She was feeling better, but there was light vomit here and there. Then, on the afternoon of Saturday, March 24th we were at a party and I noticed her right eye moving inward, Slow down, I’m dizzy,’ she said.”
‘We thought it was a double ear infection. ‘Your child has a mass in her brain.’ I tried to hold back tears.’: 8-year-old gymnast diagnosed with brain cancer, ‘She was the bravest kid’
“As we walked into the ER, we did not expect to get the news we did. We thought she just needed fluids.”
‘3 weeks after our trip to Disney, I stared at a black and white image with a mass that took up a third of my son’s brain.’: Dad urges ‘never take a day of normalcy for granted’ during quarantine after losing son to brain tumor
“We were isolated for 28 days in the hospital room. He was immunocompromised. Our world consisted of hand sanitizer, hospital masks, and surgical gloves to avoid contamination. As we watch the news, we hear the increasing mortality rates for coronavirus, some 3%. I would’ve given anything to hear those numbers for my son. Normalcy was ripped from our hands.”
‘Oh thank God, one surgery and he’ll be back to normal.’ My dad was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. He was going to survive, no doubt in my mind.’: Daughter reflects on holidays without your dad
”A feeling came over me that my dad would not pass away if I was there. I was his little girl and he was my hero. 15 minutes later, he was gone. The first Christmas without my dad, I remember thinking, ‘Just smile.’ I also carried a water bottle with me everywhere, because my dad had once told me as a child, ‘if you drink water, you will calm down and not cry.”
‘With perfect clarity, our 20-month-old looked up at us. ‘I love you.’ It was a miracle days before he passed.’: Father recalls tender moment son diagnosed with childhood cancer shocked parents, ‘Those words are forever etched in my memory’
“A miracle came just days before he passed away. At just 20 months old, our son had only verbalized one word. Dog. Yet, he responded to my wife and I as we laid over his crib, tears falling from our cheeks, expressing our love for him. With absolute perfect clarity, our little boy looked up at us. I held him for the last time. I crave his smile. I miss seeing his eyes light up.”
‘Help me, mama. Pleeeease, help me!’ Covered in sweat, he escaped the doctors. That was it! I was DONE.’: Boy beats cancer 3 times, loses vision, ‘he wasn’t supposed to survive his first day’
“The doctor looked me square in the eye. ‘Brain tumor.’ WHAT?! I looked at my baby playing with Tonka trucks. ‘I’m sorry, but I think we both knew it.’ WHAT? Are you freaking kidding? No, I didn’t! I sat in the pre-op area signing consent forms. I wrote in large letters, ‘NO STUDENT OR RESIDENT IS TO TOUCH HIM.’ Never again was I going to just accept what a doctor said without question.”
‘Jess, call 911,’ he gasped before the phone went dead. I arrived home to discover my husband laid out on a stretcher.’: Woman loses husband to brain cancer, marries again after receiving ‘message from a complete stranger’
“‘Oh God no. Please no…’ I whispered that night, my legs numb from sitting motionless. I stared straight into the eyes of the young doctor, trying to digest the news I’d just heard. Brain cancer. Earlier that evening, within 5 seconds of pulling into the driveway, I received a frantic call from my husband. ‘No, no, no,’ the only coherent thought I was able to form.”
