“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.”
‘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.’
‘In tears, my husband handed me a small paper. ‘Please don’t take my baby!’ My stomach twisted into a giant knot. Our world totally flipped upside down.’
“I had so many questions, but all I wanted to do was hold her and sob. ‘She’s just 16 and in this much pain?’ I looked at my sweet, beautiful girl and could not believe it. After blood work and an x-ray, we learned the fateful news.”
‘I had convinced myself I was just being paranoid. I was oblivious to the fact this could end up badly, so I went alone. It was supposed to be a chill day.’
“I noticed he was getting super clumsy. But he was a toddler, and most toddlers are naturally wobbly. Yet this felt different. He was holding on to the wall when he would walk, sometimes he would just fall right over. It was strange.”
I Knew I had Cancer Because I Trusted my Intuition
“I am only beginning to digest the gravity of the impact that diagnosis had on me: as a mother and wife. Moreover, how it changed me.”
‘She was my everything’: Bride rushes wedding so cancer-stricken mom can attend, to no avail
“That was not enough time. I wasn’t ready to lose my mother.”
