“He was moaning and groaning. I asked everyone in the room what had happened and what was going on. The head nurse shared that my Dad awoke around 3 a.m. in excruciating pain. That one instance led to my dad’s demise. And it was all my fault. That is what the enemy wanted me to believe.”
‘We are past time for you to call family. Your dad is not going to make it.’ ‘He was fine yesterday. What do you mean he is not going to make it?’: Woman who lost parents to bile duct cancer writes tribute to father, ‘He was my best bud’
‘Mom, why are you keeping a homework assignment?’ I had to sit facing her. I wanted her to know I wasn’t afraid.’ Mom shares grief journey after losing daughter to cancer, ‘We’re going to be okay’
“We walk in the room, and stand quietly. I start to cry. Well, that was fast. One outfit sends you spinning into a memory. We had stopped at a light and flagged down a police officer to escort us. She was bleeding everywhere. The outfit was ruined.”
‘You’re sure they didn’t mix up the vials?’ My healthy husband suddenly looked terrible. He developed a painful cough and couldn’t walk 100 feet.’: Woman births late husband’s son through IVF after leukemia battle
“My husband told the doctors not to resuscitate him. ‘What am I supposed to do without you?’ I remember telling the crew, ‘I am not leaving.’ I promised to hold his hand. ‘I am so proud of you and so grateful to have been your wife.’ His dream was to have children. I still had some of his sperm saved. I knew this would be the last time I saw him awake.”
‘You called hematology?!’ I decided to Google ‘red spots on a baby’s skin.’ My body went limp.’: After son is diagnosed with leukemia, Mom urges caution, ‘All the warning signs were there’
“I sat on the couch, clutching Lukas. I noticed strange marks on his body. They were not there the night before. At that moment, I knew my baby’s fate. I was just trying to stall the inevitable.”
‘Miranda, stop it. You can’t be in that much pain. You’re being a killjoy. Knock it off.’ I was popping Advil. I lost all feeling in my leg.’: Teen battles Ewing’s Sarcoma after being written off, ‘I am a survivor, not a statistic’
“I was 15 and no one took me seriously. One day, the neurologist came back in and said, ‘Miranda, there’s no easy way to say this. We found something in your spine.’ Panic. Blackness. I nearly passed out. I was treated without any consent, which still haunts me to this day. I was hallucinating for 36 hours straight.”
‘Aly, you need to drive home.’ He never asked me to drive. He was supposed to walk me down the aisle.’: Daughter remembers father in beautiful way, ‘he’s my guiding star’
“He hunched over as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He saw how worried I was. ‘Aly, you need to drive the rest of the way home.’ I knew something was incredibly wrong. I am forever grateful for the 3 months I had with him.”
‘We promised him he could die at home. Every mile felt like 100. I live with the ‘what-ifs.’: Widow recalls dying husband’s last journey with cancer, ‘I know he is free’
“Driving him home was an out of body experience. I have driven those interstates many times in the past, but never had I driven someone I love to die.”
‘As they rolled her away, she said, ‘Mama, hold my hand.’ I can’t go with her. I lost it.’: 3-year-old with kidney disease, stage IV liver cancer gets ‘second chance’ from organ donor
“The waiting was the hardest part. Watching your child deteriorate, lose their hair, weight, and energy while you sit back hopelessly forever changes you as a person. ‘They found a match.’ I knew she had a fighting chance to survive.”
‘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.”
‘Every time the needle pierced my skin, I stared at the ceiling, trying to stay breathing and conscious. My wait for results was unbearably long. Then, I announced, ‘We’re adopting a piano!’: Cancer patient says, ‘I didn’t have control, but I did have a piano’
“Someone in our neighborhood was getting rid of one. Nothing felt in my control. At 8:30 a.m. that morning, I announced to Brian that we were adopting a piano. Immediately.”
