For Talia cancer seemed apart of her daily life, “Her battle with cancer began when she was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma at the age of seven, on Feb. 14, 2007. In August of 2012, after more than five years of chemo, surgeries, treatments and multiple relapses, Talia was diagnosed with secondary cancer, MDS or preleukemia. Talia and her family were told that there were no longer any options to treat her and she had just months left to live. However, through perseverance, her family discovered a novel combination of drugs to combat both diseases and she had a miraculous response.” (News, Heritage Florida Jewish 3).…
When her cancer came back, I was with her in her hospital room every moment I could be, for three weeks, and then three more weeks when she had to go back just about immediately after that. But she is not easily bested. She beat cancer again. And it appeared to have been…
There is a lot of pain and struggle in us that we sometimes find hard to deal with. I was a child when I first learned what cancer meant and what it would do to my beautiful, loving and caring grandmother. I was still too young to understand fully, but I knew more or less that she would be leaving us too soon in her time. I saw her struggle with the changes the sickness had done to her body. She was weak and always tired. It hurt me so much to see her in pain and she always tried her very best to not show that she was hurting around us. She would smile and always have words of wisdom. Growing up she was the only person I thought I could tell my secrets to, my grandmother was my best friend. Before she passed I wanted to hold her, be with her and just…
My wife passed away six months ago, on June 28, 2011, after she had struggled with cancer for 17 months. For 17 months, we went through cycles of promises of hope for her recovery, followed by announcements that another tumor had been found and they would try a different chemotherapy. Then hope! Then another tumor, a different type of treatment, more surgery, a different hospital, and different promises. Over and over. Yet none of those promises came true.…
I have obviously known my grandma my whole life, but I have an extra special connection with her because I am her namesake. My grandma has lived with my parents for over 26 years; therefore I saw her everyday throughout my childhood. However, since moving away to college I only talk to her about once a week. Also, I only physically see her when I home for summer and Christmas break and about once per semester.…
My grandma's condition wasn't anything but hard for me and my family to deal with. Everyday with her was a roller coaster that held many twists and turns and couldn't stay on the track. If you didn't hold on tight, you’d thrown off. You never knew what she would remember each morning that she woke. Some days she would know the date and she was aware of her surroundings, while other days (which weren’t so great), she'd be back in time when her husband was alive and she’d call for him. Then she’d be puzzled as to why he wouldn't call her name back. When my mom would bear her the bad news he has been gone for years, my great grandma turned as silent as a mouse for the remainder of the day, wallowing in her sorrow. Yet, as her memory faded, mine…
What if I get cancer? Will I be able to survive it? Everywhere I turn I get afraid of it. I try not to breathe too deeply when I’m around people smoking and I wear sunscreen when I know I’ll be outside for a while. I’ll even move my phone if I think it’s too close too me because I think I’ll be avoiding the cellular radiation. When a classmate was diagnosed with some type of cancer I got nervous because what if I had it too? It opened my eyes to cancer and death as a whole. I now know what cancer can do to you and it isn’t pretty. It’s hard and it’s ugly. There is a lot of pain and suffering. I see the struggle that people I know have faced. Some of them overcame and some of them didn’t. That is what scares me. I get scared that I or loved ones will get sick and there will be nothing to be done. Cancer will break you down and hurt you until it effaces you from Earth. The treatment is terrible too. It is given in hope to kill the cancer before it kills you. I remember Grandma “B.” having a hiatus from her treatments to see how it went. That seemed that it didn’t hinder it, but it also didn’t enhance…
With, this came obsticles that would push her to the limit, considering that, staying healthy was her biggest concern. Chemotherapy made that a tough task, food tasted bland, and made her feel sick through most of the treatment yet, she stayed strong through the whole thing. This was delightful for me, and everyone else, knowing that she would be with us for more days to come. The recovery days of treatment went smoother, and now she is cancer free. Bringing an end to the story, my aunt has shed light on how unpredictable life’s battles could be. When looking back on this event, it wasn’t just my Aunt that learned a lesson, the rest of the family learned to value each bother…
My Grandma very slowly started to forget things and repeat herself, it progressively got worse and she started to forget us, her family. It got so bad, that she pleaded to go home, but she was. It got so bad, she thought I at 14 was her nurse. I once strolled into my Grandma’s house…
I woke up in the hospital, the room was stuffy and the air had a undertone of bleach. Beautiful framed pieces of art hang the wall. There were vases of flowers in the room. I look around, every surface was dustless. The nurses were unhurried, they moved with a serene peacefulness from room to room on their rounds. Above the double doors were large blue plastic signs with the area of the hospital that lie ahead. I got this overwhelming feeling of wanting to cry. Brick by brick my walls were tumbling down. The feeling punched through my empty stomach ripping through my bones, guts, and muscles. I knew Ms. Anna would be upset.…
Petersburg, West Virginia is a small town in the eastern panhandle with one stoplight and where everybody has some type of connection or recognition to everybody. I travel to this area at least three times annually for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Independence Day. Petersburg is not a vacation spot my parents, sister, and I go to on the holidays, it is where my grandparents reside in their beautiful two story brick home they built. I have always enjoyed visiting my grandparents and the time spent together is special. The time spent with my grandma has been particularly special this past year. In September of 2014, my grandma, who I call Grammy, was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer after having a biopsy. Her journey so far has taught me to cherish the memories made and time spent with family.…
My grandfather, who is now 82 years old, was diagnosed with colon cancer five years sago. He fought it, went into remission, but unfortunately, it has now come back. Today it is stage-3 colon cancer. He has gone through radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery. My grandfather moved in with my mother and me because fighting cancer left him fragile.…
At the time she was with her brother at an ice-skating rink. Her dad called the arena and told her she had to come home, hearing the fear in his voice she knew something very bad had happened. They drove home and waited for hours for them to get back from the hospital not knowing anything finally her parents got back but her sister wasn’t there. Her sister Jenifer died but her boyfriend was fine. Of course this was a shock to their family but my grandma got through it and she didn’t let it set her back.…
Then it all happened, our lives spiraled out of control. My mom was becoming weaker and weaker by the day. Her lymph node on the left side of her neck had become inflamed. At first, we thought she must have just been a bad infection. We were secretly all concerned. We had a hard time grasping that it could be something bad. Whenever you touched this grape size lump on her neck, she would cringe. You could see the pain in her eyes. We did not want to scare her and tell her it could be cancer or that something bad could be happening. When December…
I was about eleven or twelve at the time. My mother called me into her bedroom. “Khalil, I have breast cancer,” she said. Bewildered, confused and emotionally wounded when she proclaimed that she might not be a part of my life anymore. The announcement of her terminal illness shocked and awed me to a point in which I could not wipe the tears from my face fast enough to see properly. However, this experience not only made me appreciate and value my mother’s existence more, but, it also made me look back at my grandmother’s value, whom was diagnosed with this plague as well. After my mother bared this horrible news, I could not look her in face without breaking down in tears. Without thinking, I quickly dashed towards my room to let my pillows absorb my unrelenting screams. As I calmed the raging storm spiraling in my mind, I soon returned to my mother’s room. When I returned I noticed her expression had not changed at all. As she continued to smile as if nothing went wrong in the world, I could not comprehend how she continued to stay calm and collected in this situation. In addition to being at fault, I…