Life is full of unexpected twists and turns that you never saw coming. Your loved ones leave, hopefully to a better place, and new ones are born. Instinctively, you do your best to protect the ones that are left behind and prevent the cruelness of the world from damaging their outlook on life. My parents have done their best to shelter me from everything that could possibly hurt me, so I did not become damaged. When I was seven years old my father was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, but he was not the only one. My paternal grandfather was also diagnosed with the same condition, stage four lung cancer. At seven you do not truly understand what cancer is or what it will do to the family aspect of your life. I knew that my father and grandfather were both sick, but beyond that I was living in a world of denial. The world of a carefree seven-year-old. When my father was in the hospital for his cancer treatments my grandmother would take care of me and my sister. This cycle between hospital and home went on for over a year. My …show more content…
In a way I was right even though that is a very depressing thought. My mother kept almost everything about my father and grandfather’s condition and treatment a secret. Then one day everything changed. My whole life came crumbling down in a moment. My father was responding well to the treatments, but my grandfather had not and was now lost to me forever. I was never particularly close to my paternal grandfather, but I grieved the loss of a grandparent I would never truly get to know. The idea he was gone was hard for me to wrap my head around, especially because I still had all of my great grandparents. The fact that he had survived and his father had not devastated my father. After having part of his right lung removed he became addicted to the pain medication because he felt as if it helped him cope with the loss of his
When it comes to a bad diagnosis it is often difficult for doctors to tell their patients this devastating news. The doctor will likely hold back from telling the patient the whole truth about their health because they believe the patient will become depressed. However, Schwartz argues that telling the patient the whole truth about their illness will cause depression and anxiety, but rather telling the patient the whole truth will empower and motivate the patient to make the most of their days. Many doctors will often also prescribe or offer treatment that will likely not help their health, but the doctors do so to make patients feel as though their may be a solution to the problem as they are unaware to the limited number of days they may have left. In comparison, people who are aware there is no cure to their diagnosis and many choose to live their last days not in the hospital or pain free from medications without a treatment holding them back. They can choose to live their last days with their family and will have more time and awareness to handle a will. Schwartz argues the importance of telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and communicating the person’s likely amount of time left as it will affect how the patient chooses to live their limited
My mother and brother were with me, taking it all in themselves. My brother was 10 and not a very serious person. I didn’t think it would affect him very much. My mother was a different story. She was about to lose her last living parent, the one she was close to, and although I couldn’t see it physically, I know her heart broke into billions of pieces at the sight. My grandmother, who had turned 88 less than a month before, was diagnosed with pancreatitis not even a week before and was now going to be taken off life support. Several of her organs had failed already, including her kidneys, so my aunt had been forced to make the hardest decision of her life.
Living our busy lives no one else in the family could travel to Houston. Grandma was a strong woman. She could overcome anything and cancer was not going to defeat her. When she arrived at the hospital the doctors took a cat scan and figured out that she had stage four melanoma skin cancer. While my mother and grandma were at M.D. Anderson I was at home living a normal life just starting my first high school basketball season. Every night I worried about how she was doing not thinking about my school work or my athletics. A couple weeks later I called grandma and asked her how she was doing and she assured me that everything was going to be okay and that I should not worry about her. That’s how she lived. She never put herself first in any situation and family and friends were her main focus. Grandma would do anything to make her grandkids happy. I told my grandma I loved her and hung up the phone. The next day at school I looked up the percentage of people killed by melanoma skin cancer and the results were not good. One person dies of melanoma every 54 minutes. When I got home that evening I told my dad that I needed to be in Houston with my grandma. He said he didn’t think that he could make it happen with his busy schedule. I called my mom upset realizing that
One of the hardest things my dad had to do was to inform me and my brother about her situation. He sat us both down, put his hands on our shoulders, and carefully explained that my mom was "sick". Sick was an understatement. This disease was life-threatening. It could take a mother away from her children, a wife away from her husband, and a sister away from her siblings. No, my mom was not "sick". She was suffering. There were days where I wasn't allowed to be near my mom. Being a 5 year old, it was hard to understand why things had to be that way. Why can't I see my mom? Why can't I play with her? Why can't I hug her? Although I was young, I could still see my mom in times of
Eventually things in my life as a first grader returned to normal. My family was complete again and everyone was home. It never crossed my mind that it could come back until 4 years later when it did. Throughout the next 13 years after the original diagnosis, the cancer has come back 4 times. Now that I am old enough to understand what is wrong, I can honestly say that it isn’t the hospital visits that touch my life the most. Of course when she is in the hospital it is hard but now that I can go visit her as I please it makes it a whole lot easier. The thing that has touched my life the most is something that most people probably take for granted and don’t even know they have. It is the security and confidence in the health of their loved ones. It is the fact that they don’t have to worry about their dad, brother, mom being sick. They don’t have to worry about how long they will have their loved ones for. As I look back upon the years that I have fully understood what is going on with my mom’s health that I realize how much it has shaped me. I truly don’t know how long I have left with her, or if something similar could happen to me. This constant adversity in my life has made me try to not take things, especially time for
When my dad was diagnosed the very first time with cancer it was cancer of the larynx. It was a disheartening diagnosis but not an insurmountable one. As the family gathered to hear the information, I don’t remember that anyone perceived it as a death sentence. Mom and dad told us the bad news in a straight forward, factual manner. I remember they answered our questions to the best of their ability. The tumor would be removed and after a several weeks of radiation therapy all would be new again. I think my dad looked at this illness and healing process as a job, a challenge and a goal he was given that would have to be completed for the sake of his family. The family prayed, said the rosary, made special offerings at Mass and lit candles. Dad had the surgery to remove the tumor and recovered rather quickly. Just a few months after treatment was completed he celebrated the birth of his first and only grandson. Life was good.
Many weeks of cancer treatments for my little sister Tory has worn me down. Tory was diagnosed with leukemia last fall. My parents have never been the same since that unforgettable doctor's appointment. I mean, I feel the same way, cancer has created a one big problem in my family. Lately, all the attention has been on Tory and her health issues, and I am afraid my parents forgot that I still exist.
We sat many hours while my mom got tests done. Before she went into surgery we got to see her . Walking in that room and seeing my mom was the hardest thing ever to see her going through this was heartbreaking. My mom is such a motivation person she strives to be happy everyday and constantly has a smile on her face. We said our goodbyes and walking down those halls was one of the hardest things I ever experienced i would have never guess that my mom would be in one of those hospital beds because she had cancer. All that was going through my head was what if my mom doesnt make it? What if my mom doesn't make it? Each child have a close relationship whether it's with your mom or dad but i've always had a close relationship with my mom i was always b y her side and never let her go. After waiting a few hours we got the call that she was done. We made our way back to her room, to be honest she look horrible she looked so sick and unhappy it was so hard seeing my mom like
There are two types of death a child may experience with his or her parent. Sadly the most common way is an illness such as cancer or other medical problems. When a parent has cancer it can be very difficult for the child. After years of long hospital drives and countless hours in different waiting rooms crying, the child may grow angry or upset when their parent is not getting better. In this situation it is important for the child to be informed about what is happening with their parent. The treatments are not working as they used to, this means mom or dad is going to die soon. The child most likely has noticed that their parent is not as active anymore. It is important to let them know about the situation so there is no false hope which can lead to a more devastating heartbreak than expected. During this difficult time the child is watching their parent slowly die. The child may become a...
The last thing I would want to hear as a twelve year old girl was, “Your dad has cancer.” It was September 2011 when I found out my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was in shock and speechless as to what I should even say. I can remember my mom telling me about the unfortunate news while she tried to hide the tears behind her eyes. As a young girl I never expected a family member especially my dad to have cancer. Many questions like what would I do without my dad filled my head. I started to doubt God as to how could this happen to an amazing man. I had so many negative thoughts in my mind yet on the outside I tried to show people that I was okay.
The story that I 'm about to tell is a tragedy, to say at the least. It will be a hard story to tell. I 'm going to tell you about my father and his struggle with cancer. Let me start by saying that my father was an amazing man. He was the kind of man that you felt privileged to have known. My father was your typical small town southern man. His life revolved around Jesus, work, and his family. I believe that it is true when people say “Only the good die young”. Nothing could have prepared my family and I for the things we witnessed during my father 's battle with that ugly disease.
About four years ago, I was packed in the backseat with my younger sisters, with my parents in the front seats. We were on the interstate heading to eat at Fuji and my mom says that they have something serious to talk to us about. The first thoughts that run through my juvenile mind is that there was a death, or that my parents were getting a divorce. There was a long, uncanny silence, when my dad, being the jokester he is, makes a joke that incorporates the fact that he has colon cancer. Not even at one of the toughest moments of his life did he show that he was in
We then learned further treatment was unachievable and over time, my mother began to lose her strength and mobility, which required us to place her in hospice care. As one of her caregivers, I helped to feed, groom, bathe, and assist her in the bathroom. During this time, it was disheartening to see my mother deteriorate, knowing that there was nothing further I could do. At age 14, I watched helplessly as my mother, and best friend, lost her battle with cancer. In my grief, my interest in the medical field intensified; I was determined to be there for other people who faced similar situations. I also wanted to do my part to prevent cancer so others would not have to suffer the pain of losing a loved
Chemotherapy became frequent and doctor appointments were never ending. I spent the time home alone with my sister, practically taking on the full job of raising a child; I had to make sure she ate, brushed her teeth, did her homework. Then one day, I got called out of school to be told that my Dad had passed away earlier that morning. My world went into a spiral. I pulled away from the world around me and sunk back into a shroud of darkness and pain that I denied for years and refused to deal with. I buried myself in school and homework so that I could always have an excuse for not going out. I had the added circumstance of moving to a new school each year of high school, making it easier to not get attached to people and float through the
Our whole future went up in the air, my mom was a stay at home mom and since we relied on my dad to support our family our whole lifestyle changed. I learned to adapt to a whole new way of life because of changes that happened practically overnight. After my dad passed away my mom, sister, and I got a lot closer and we had always been a tight family but now we held on to the only thing we had left, each other. My grandfather had been fighting stage 4 kidney cancer for several months before my dad died. After my father’s death my grandfather’s cancer worsened and he was more visibly ill. On February 18th, he lost his battle to cancer. Once again my heart was broken and I didn 't know how I could possibly get through losing my dad and grandfather in a matter of months, I lost two major role models in my life in five months which alone is a lot for a child to cope with. I had never been good at adjusting to change and there was so much happening so fast. My grandmother started to be a lot more involved in my life after my grandfather passed away. My mom was always “the good kid,” the one who was responsible and really was my