“One night, I woke up crying in pain. ‘Please just cut my leg off!’ I lost my childhood, my innocence. Just as life started to feel normal, my scans weren’t coming back clear. There was something in my lung and no one knew what it was.”
‘She said the words I hoped to never hear again, ‘You have cancer.’ I know life isn’t fair, but 3 times? It felt downright cruel.’: Mom shares cancer journey, ‘While I’m changed, I’m still here’
‘Go have a good weekend because it’s not good news.’ Deep down, I was freaking out. I was so new to cancer.’: Woman beats breast cancer, welcomes 2 miracle babies, ‘I am a survivor’
“We were in the middle of wedding planning, living a fairy tale life. That was when I found my lump. ’We have bad news.’ My life was crumbling beneath my feet.”
‘I have a loving husband. My life is a fairytale. I should be smiling. I have no sob story to garner support.’: Mom suffering from depression gets real about mental health stigmas
“At 36 years old, my life is on the upswing. Who would have thought? I have no reason to cry.”
‘The nurse’s note he left behind said, ‘Brooke is my everything.’ Mr. Hudson didn’t have any family, so I gladly stepped up to be a daughter to him.’: Woman pays tribute to friend who died of cancer, ‘I will see him again’
“Around 3:30 p.m., Mr. Hudson went to be with his Lord and Savior. The nurses told me prior to his passing, he sang ‘Amazing Grace’ so loudly it echoed throughout the facility. He had been a little confused lately, but he knew every word. I’ve been crying all afternoon and evening.”
‘I was 11, hooked up to morphine. ‘If I get rid of my leg, I never have to go through this again?’ I had to make a decision.’: 11-year-old with Osteogenic Sarcoma voluntarily amputates leg
“I was told it was just ‘growing pains.’ I felt the pain with every bend of my knee. Hours later, I heard people crying around me about a ‘missing leg.’ I tried to open my eyes. The pain is still so vivid.”
‘Doctors told me it was ‘a blocked milk duct.’ It felt like a lemon seed under my skin, close to my areola, and hadn’t hurt at all.’: Woman with breast cancer stays positive, ‘I’ve got this. Everything will be okay.’
“My diagnosis came when I was a 48-year-old, post-menopausal woman with no biological children. I told myself, ‘I have to get my sh*t together quick!’ Things were progressing well until a few days after we moved into a new home. I was experiencing severe shortness of breath, which I’d mistakenly attributed to chemo side effects. Long story short, 840 gallons of propane leaked into our home. By the time the leak was discovered, my treatment plan had been modified.”
‘Is your husband deaf, too?’ No, but he’s the most patient man I’ve ever met.’: Cancer survivor marries ‘hearing husband,’ claims ‘harships’ make her ‘glad to be born deaf’
“Yes, I’m deaf and my husband can hear. He reminds me when I leave the water running because I can’t hear it, or when my car is making a funny noise. He makes all my appointments over the phone. The amount of times I’ve said, ‘Huh? I have no idea what you’re saying,’ are endless. But I seriously couldn’t do life without him by my side acting as my ears and being my person. He makes me glad to be born deaf.”
‘If I die, our kids won’t remember me.’ My husband excused himself to the bathroom, literally sick to his stomach.’: Woman mistakes breast cancer for ‘clogged milk duct,’ says chemo ‘almost killed her’
“The ultrasound tech brought me a box of tissues, tears welling up in her eyes. ‘What are the tissues for?’ I asked, confused. ‘There’s an 80% chance it’s cancer.’ I was completely shell-shocked. Numb. I couldn’t get out of the room and building fast enough. While others continued living their lives, I was stuck, sick. My life was put on hold.”
‘I was asked if I had any questions. All I could manage to mumble was, ‘Will I lose my hair?’ I was 16. I was in high school. I was a girl. I couldn’t be bald. I just couldn’t.’
“Three words. That’s all it took. Three simple words. Everything was happening too fast. I just sat there, staring at the wall, trying not cry. When homecoming came, I had this beautiful red dress. I put on heels, makeup. Then I looked in the mirror and crumbled to the ground. What was I thinking? I looked ridiculous. I looked sick.”
‘Mom, I’m in so much pain.’ 5 days later, she spiked a fever. A lightbulb went off.’: 16-year-old girl embraces ‘beautiful’ bald head during battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma
“We treated her with ibuprofen, heat, and ice. It seemed to ease it some. The next morning when she got up, she was in a tremendous amount of pain. It was followed by a week of unending pain. ‘Why my baby?’ All I wanted to do was hold her and sob.”
