%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
If you've lost someone to cancer please share your story. Help yourself and others heal. |
| Patricia Ann Neal My mother was diagnosed in 2005 with ovarian cancer. Even though she had a hysterectomy at age twenty-six they left a partial ovary. After she was diagnosed the doctors gave her Five years max to live due to the large cell type cancer she had. It seemed to spread very quickly but we we're told that it was more or less in remission after her chemotherapy and radiation treatments. It was not very long when we were told that it had attacked her bowels and they needed to take out a length of intestine and therefore she would have a colostomy bag, the surgeon was optimistic that once it was removed and she healed that he could reattach the intestines and remove the colostomy. But this was not to be, mama's health seemed to seep from her but she tried to remain hopeful. She prayed and stayed as active as she could as not to lose sight of the goal of a full recovery. We all prayed and wished the same for her. She was my inspiration, my best friend and confidant, as I believe she was for all her children and grandchildren is her own way. She silently struggled with this demon called cancer, never once stopped believing she had a chance to beat it. I think that her outlook was so positive that she made us all believe she would fully recover from it and live to see her great- grandson grow up and go to school. She loved all her children and grandchildren but when her great- grandson was born he was the light of her life. He was often her reason for waking up each day and her reason to fight just a little harder to live. She didn't get to go to church much in her last years the illness just made it so hard for her, but she never lost her faith in God and loved him so much. I think one of the hardest things my mother had to deal with on a personal note was losing her long blonde hair. She loved her hair and considered it her crowning glory. It had finally started to grow back her last year on this earth, it came back dark and not blonde the way she had always been. But she did say at least she wasn't bald any longer and tried to stay positive on that note as well. On her one trip to her oncologist she took a hard fall and broke her leg, she was so weak anyway and it was getting harder for her to face getting up everyday that when she fell it just drained her hopes. Her mind started to revert back to childlike states. She would speak and act so much like a small child it was hard for me to see this strong woman in such a frail state. Then on her last trip to the oncologists office he spoke to us about calling in Hospice to help take care of her. He said that it wouldn't be a bad idea to start calling in family to see her before it was too late as well so that each could say their eternal good-byes. Mama knew and was in a right enough frame of mind to remember from all the years she worked in healthcare that Hospice meant a bad thing for her. She didn't understand that we needed help to take care of her, and that there was no way we were going to place her in a nursing home her last while on this earth. Besides we all had gave our words we would never do that to her. She just couldn't understand in her simplistic state of mind we weren't giving up on her, that she needed the extra care. Sometime during all this she just gave up and made her mind up that it was going to be her way how she left this world and that she wouldn't burden us anymore. Although we never felt she was a burden, how could we this beautiful woman who birthed us, raised us, disciplined us and loved us unconditionally, no she was never a burden to any of us. So when the call came to me early Monday morning on that cold November 22nd, 2010 that she went to sleep and just didn't wake up I broke down I had lost my every- thing, my friend, my mother, I realized this is how she chose to go. Quietly in her sleep as peaceful as she could and through my heart break I had to realize that we owed her that much. The right to go the way she wanted, after all it was her battle and even though she is greatly missed everyday she is by far in a better place now. She is no longer in pain battling the demon called cancer, she is in Heaven with her mother and dad and siblings who went before her. She is rejoicing and happy now, singing with with the angels. It is only human of me to miss her and grieve for her, but I know she still loves us and is watching over us all now. I love you mama I miss you everyday and you are a great- mamaw again to another great- grandson. We will never forget you, you are our heart. Love you forever. When you write you story list next chapter as the person's name thank you so much for sharing yours/their story here with me. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
