“My son kept holding his right side and screaming. They told me he was ‘just constipated’. ‘Constipation shouldn’t be making him scream.’ They thought I was some crazy helicopter mom. The doctor’s response? ‘Well, if it was real pain, you holding and consoling him wouldn’t be making him feel better like it is now.’ Boy, was she wrong. I could feel in my spirit something was wrong with my baby boy.”
‘I went home after my son’s transplant, only to receive an angry letter about the ‘eyesore’ exterior of my home.’: Woman’s son diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, community unites to clean her home in wake of insensitive complaint
‘I never thought I’d be calling my husband to inform him ‘it’s cancer.’ I sat on the phone in utter shock.’: 28-year-old woman diagnosed with breast cancer after noticing ‘blood stains in bra’
“I was too young to get cancer. There was no way. I was fit and healthy, currently in the best shape of my life training for a trip to Everest basecamp. I prepared my chemo bag. I was ready for this. But when I walked into the hospital and saw all the elderly ladies around me wearing head scarves, I instantly felt a fear I could not describe.”
‘We were heading home by scooter when we slipped. A simple SLIP changed my life. I felt a piercing pain in my back. I looked down at my legs. They looked like someone else’s.’ Paralyzed woman carried across the world on ‘husband’s back’
“Ambulance, sirens, lights. I realized something big had changed, though it wasn’t yet clear what it was. From my hospital bed, I lied and reassured my parents I could feel their caresses, hands. I couldn’t. And I never walked again. Many find strength in sport. I did not. I found it in my husband.”
‘Okay mama?!’ Tyson would check on her. ‘Mama, sad.’ He’d tell me. Our lives changed that night. I tried to comfort her as she went through all the same emotions.’
“Tyson woke up early crying his tummy was hurting. My wife rubbed his tummy to comfort him and felt a hard lump in his stomach. We dropped the kids off at school and took him to the ER. The conversation was short, ‘I’m sorry.'”
‘This is the moment my sister met the woman who saved her life. She got caught in traffic and arrived literally minutes before my sister was about to walk down the aisle.’
“When she arrived, my sister didn’t know her name, didn’t know her face, didn’t know her story… but she knew this was the woman who had saved her life.”
‘We’re sorry. It’s cancer.’ We’ve spent 150+ nights in the hospital. I quit my job. My husband ran out of sick days.’: Mom’s newborn diagnosed with Leukemia, community sacrifices sick days to help
“We noticed a shift in our bubbly girl’s personality. Kinsley stopped sleeping. She had a diaper rash we couldn’t control. She was constantly fussy and the days seemed like years. They continually told me it was average baby things, that she was teething, she was fine, this was normal. There was nothing normal about it. My mom instincts were on high alert.”
‘It was 6 a.m. I froze. ‘That’s weird. She never calls this early.’ When I arrived, he kept holding his stomach. Mom’s ALWAYS know what’s wrong, but she couldn’t figure this one out.’
“He didn’t say much. I couldn’t get any words out. He ran up and gave me a light little poke before running away. All I could think was, ‘Why? He’s only 14.'”
‘I really messed up Will. I’ll call you soon.’ Nothing prepares you for this. I pulled over and lost it. I look back at conversations I had with my sister and tears run down my cheek.’
“Emily was such a gifted kid. I was the jealous older brother. I always thought she would be going places. Until things changed. We received a large inheritance from our grandmother’s passing. It was like a switch. ‘I never want to see or speak to you again,’ I said to my sister.”
‘She and her brother are both adopted, so we couldn’t even do a half match! That call was devastating. How could we come this far and not have any matches?! We felt hopeless.’
“We searched for weeks, and came up empty handed. I remember so vividly sitting in the waiting room thinking this is just a bad dream and we would wake up!”
‘IT’S A BOY!,’ they said as they held him up over the sheet. She turned and looked at me. ‘That’s your baby.’ It was the most incredible moment of my life.’
“The next day I walked into our apartment building to find Evan on his knees sobbing. The doctor had called.”
