“I don’t know how else to say it. I never once imagined my biggest life lessons would come while being bald and sick as my breast was slowly consumed by cancer. There will be life before and after the pandemic, and I believe the after will be sweeter.”
‘I feel hideous and weak. I want it to end.’ Chemo was killing me.’: Stage 3 breast cancer survivor encourages others during pandemic, ‘You can find beauty, laughter, and joy’
‘I remember saying the very words, ‘Not her.’ That was my breaking point. Hurt me, but not my sister. I threatened to tell my mommy what they did.’: After surviving abuse, cancer woman says ‘sometimes just having someone to talk to is enough’
“I tried to hide it from my parents but their child had changed and they knew something had happened. I walked onto the bridge with tears in my eyes. This is how I would do it. She watched me, and through the grace of God, decided she should call the police. This woman, I truly believe, was an angel.”
‘Sorry we dropped the ball and didn’t tell you about this, but we found it in your blood work 4 years ago.’: After years of fatigue, husband is finally diagnosed with rare blood cancer
“He just needed to learn how to de-stress properly after work. He just needed to sleep better. He just needed to make more of an effort. Fine. Whatever. ‘Honey, I need you to take me to the ER.’ I looked at my husband, who absolutely hates stepping foot inside of a hospital. Something was wrong.”
‘A month after my father’s death, I decided to give my 2 weeks notice. I need to sort myself out and return to my roots.’: Young woman reconnects to her heritage with DNA test and a refugee
“He died, suddenly. Unfortunately, after his death, his side of my family turned very sour. We lost communication. The only thing I had in terms of clues of where I was from, was the $89 DNA saliva test I took just four months before, and a memoir my Greek Grandfather, Papou, wrote before he died.”
‘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.”
‘I called my ex. ‘You’re the one with sole custody, it’s your problem.’ The fact is, in this time of uncertainty, we are both her parents.’: Woman encourages co-parents to ‘work together and set differences aside’ during Coronavirus
“When he picked up the phone, I was surprised to learn he had been laid off a month before the Coronavirus took off. If this had happened a year ago or even 6 months ago, I would have a very different narrative on how this is going. I’ve literally heard it all. But I decided to give him a chance to help.”
‘I wish I could hold her one more time. I’d give anything in the world to just be quarantined with her.’: Widows urges not to take quarantine for granted, ‘This is a season to take time for the ones we love’
“Don’t take this time for granted. There probably won’t be another season in our lives with so much time to be with the ones we love. We don’t know how this will end. We don’t know when this will end. But we do know that eventually, it will end. I’d give anything for Rachel to be here annoying the heck out of me. I’d give anything for her to be here loving me.”
‘Why don’t you lose weight?’ Me, unimpressed by an egotistical doctor: ‘Or you could just do your job.’: Woman with cervical cancer, PCOS beats infertility, ‘Always fight for yourself because you are worth it’
“I quickly became friends with Wanda, the lovely trans-vaginal ultrasound wand I had a hot date with every morning. ‘We found something on your cervix.’ My period stopped. I almost fainted on the subway on my way to work. I started gaining weight. I was told I likely would never naturally have children. Well, f**k.'”
‘It bothers people that I’m confident. When I started casually dating after he passed away, people were not okay with that.’: Confident widow encourages others to ‘throw out expectations of self-pity’
“Recently, my daughter has experienced bullying at school. The people who have been unkind to her likely have no idea what we’ve been through the last 2 years. They just see a target and go after her relentlessly. This body has carried me through hell and back.”
‘They will remove your ovary through your vagina.’ My heart skipped a beat. ‘What? I’m on my period.’ The color never returned to his face.’: Woman cracks jokes before ovarian tumor surgery
“My mother-in-law asked me if I liked my doctor. ‘Well, I did before he stuck his finger in my butthole!’ I make jokes. Sometimes, really inappropriate ones. There is no right way or wrong way to deal with a situation like this. I was at a hospital that had already saved my life once.”
