I was 11 years old when cancer touched my life, I lost my Mom to cervical cancer, and the whole world changed for me. When I was 19, a week before my wedding to the man of my dreams, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. He won that battle, but a year later my Dad passed away from liver cancer. Two years after that, my husband had a recurrence of his Hodgkin's, another battle that he won after two grueling years of treatment.
Things were smooth for a while, then when I was 36 I was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. A week after that horrific date, my older sister lost her battle with Ovarian cancer. I won my battle with Breast Cancer after a year of treatment, but there is nothing worse than a female losing all her hair!
When I was 47 my husband lost his third and final battle with his cancer. It seems that I am the only one who has survived in my family.
I do quite a bit of volunteering for the ACS, as I am TOO familiar with what people go through during treatment, I've learned more than I ever wanted to know! One doctor asked me if I was a nurse, as I was telling him what size needle to use!
The bottom line is NEVER GIVE UP! My son was 8 when I was diagnosed and leaving him alone at that young age was not an option. The human spirit is as much a cure as chemo and radiation. Attitude is everything!
Yukon, OK