How Cancer Has Impacted My Family | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Health and Wellness

Cancer Is No Stranger To Our Family, But It Has Never Had The Power To Break Us

We used to be the happy, active, loving family — we still are.

49
Cancer Is No Stranger To Our Family, But It Has Never Had The Power To Break Us

The first time cancer affected my family, I was 5 years old. My 18-month-old brother, Max, had been suffering from brutal headaches so my parents took him to the doctor. When my mother broke the news to me, I was a bit underwhelmed. I didn't know what cancer was or what it did.

In the week after diagnosis, several doctors had told my mother to simply "bring him home and enjoy the time you have left with him." But my mother, being the determined woman she is, did not accept these prognoses. So my parents and my little brother left for a clinical trial at New York's Tisch Hospital, whose pediatric oncologist had hope for Max. Soon it was decided that they had to relocate to the NYC for the foreseeable future, and I was to be left in South Florida with my grandparents to continue my schooling.

Over the year they were gone, I visited my brother whenever my school schedule allowed. The first time I saw him, he had staples in his head and was covered in tubes and wires. The next time I saw him he was laughing, full of energy. After over a year of nonstop treatments, my parents and brother were finally able to move back home. Thinking the worst was over, my grandparents and I felt relieved. We would be a family again — no more three-hour plane rides to see each other, no more worrying about the disease. When my parents came home, they announced that they were getting divorced.

Fast forward to 2012. The ups and downs of Max's cancer had now blurred into distant memories, and the staples covering the back of his head healed into a scar. My mother had remarried just four years prior and we now had another little brother, Jackson. I was starting high school, Max was starting fourth grade, and Jackson was barely starting Pre-K. My mother had been complaining of chest pains for a few days but none of us thought anything of it. A biopsy was scheduled for the next day as a precaution.

I remember getting home from school one day, excited to tell my parents that I had no homework. I walked into the house and was greeted with my grandmother looking somber, telling me my mother needed to talk to me. I was confused, thinking I was probably in trouble for not cleaning my room again. When I walked into her room the first thing my mom told me was "it's breast cancer." My mind immediately replayed memories of Max, bald and crying, covered in bandages and tubes. "It's not that bad," she told me after I began crying. Naively, I believed her. Now, I know she only said it to calm me.

Cancer had yet again affected my family, and I was only 13.

My mother underwent a double mastectomy within the week of her diagnosis. She came home from the hospital crying, weak, and in pain. She looked so different with a big white bandage around her now-flat chest, and I remember wondering if she was able to breathe correctly with it on. Unfortunately, the surgery did not prevent the cancer from spreading, so my mother underwent chemotherapy and multiple other surgeries.

My brothers became different people throughout her treatment, and so did I. Mom and Jeremy (our stepfather) were gone nearly 24/7.

Mom's doctors were three hours away in Orlando, so most appointments required overnight stays. When she was home, spending time with her was hard because she was either tired or in pain. Through it all, she fought the disease valiantly. Things were going well until 2014, when the cancer metastasized into her bones. Her chemo changed, she underwent even more surgeries, and worst of all, her diagnosis was now terminal.

As my mother got sicker and sicker, my family became more and more strained. We all fought with each other constantly. We didn't understand how to deal with the pain, so we ignored it. When I went off to college in 2016, my family packed up and moved to Orlando so my mother could be closer to her doctors. The cancer stayed stable for a few years. The most recent diagnosis came in late 2019 when her doctors found that the cancer had metastasized yet again, this time to the liver. My mother has undergone 17 different surgeries in the past seven years, multiple different chemos, and enough pain to last a lifetime. Her next scan will be performed in March, and we are all hopeful that her new chemo is doing its job.

Throughout everything, my family has found the resilience to stick together and help each other through the best and the worst times.

I am extremely lucky and proud to say that while cancer has impossibly hurt us, it has only made us stronger.

Report this Content
Entertainment

Most Epic Aurora Borealis Photos: October 2024

As if May wasn't enough, a truly spectacular Northern Lights show lit up the sky on Oct. 10, 2024

1594
stunning aurora borealis display over a forest of trees and lake
StableDiffusion

From sea to shining sea, the United States was uniquely positioned for an incredible Aurora Borealis display on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, going into Friday, Oct. 11.

It was the second time this year after an historic geomagnetic storm in May 2024. Those Northern Lights were visible in Europe and North America, just like this latest rendition.

Keep Reading...Show less
 silhouette of a woman on the beach at sunrise
StableDiffusion

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of suicide/suicidal thoughts.

When you are feeling down, please know that there are many reasons to keep living.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

Power of Love Letters

I don't think I say it enough...

448151
Illistrated image of a letter with 2 red hearts
StableDiffusion

To My Loving Boyfriend,

  • Thank you for all that you do for me
  • Thank you for working through disagreements with me
  • Thank you for always supporting me
  • I appreciate you more than words can express
  • You have helped me grow and become a better person
  • I can't wait to see where life takes us next
  • I promise to cherish every moment with you
  • Thank you for being my best friend and confidante
  • I love you and everything you do

To start off, here's something I don't say nearly enough: thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You do so much for me that I can't even put into words how much I appreciate everything you do - and have done - for me over the course of our relationship so far. While every couple has their fair share of tiffs and disagreements, thank you for getting through all of them with me and making us a better couple at the other end. With any argument, we don't just throw in the towel and say we're done, but we work towards a solution that puts us in a greater place each day. Thank you for always working with me and never giving up on us.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

11 Signs You Grew Up In Hauppauge, NY

Because no one ever really leaves.

20907
Map of Hauppauge, New York
Google

Ah, yes, good old Hauppauge. We are that town in the dead center of Long Island that barely anyone knows how to pronounce unless they're from the town itself or live in a nearby area. Hauppauge is home to people of all kinds. We always have new families joining the community but honestly, the majority of the town is filled with people who never leave (high school alumni) and elders who have raised their kids here. Around the town, there are some just some landmarks and places that only the people of Hauppauge will ever understand the importance or even the annoyance of.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Moana's Top 10 Life Tips

"Moana" is filled with life lessons that involve far more than finding true love as many other Disney movies do.

44052
Animated image of a woman with long dark hair and tattoos
StableDiffusion

1. It's easy to be fooled by shiny things.

Digital image of shiny gemstones in cased in gold. shiny things StableDiffusion

Tamatoa created a liar filled with shiny things simply for the purpose of tricking fish to enter and become his food. He too experiences a lesson in how easy it is to be tricked by shiny things when Moana distracts him by covering herself in glowing algae so Maui can grab his hook.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments