I am an avid daily clicker and I love to read the stories. The "Honoring Moms" theme has touched me in so many ways that I wanted to tell my story. My Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003 and had a lumpectomy; however, the cancer had moved to her lymph nodes. She went through aggressive chemo and radiation and was cancer free for a short time. The cancer came back in a form of a skin rash and on September 30, 2005, she was diagnosed with leukemia, which was a side effect of her initial chemo treatments. She lost her battle on October 2, 2005. My Mom thought of others first and did not want the cancer to affect her family so she did not always let us know what she was going through. This is just a reminder to take the time to actually be there, to do the little things, and to love your loved ones as if tomorrow is not a definite. Hopefully, with your love and support they will become cancer free and live a very long life. Now that I have lived through my Mom's cancer and, in looking back, I feel that I could have done so much more for her if I had only had a better understanding of cancer. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.
My sister and I have taken what Mom taught us in loving others and putting them first. We are very active in our local American Cancer Society Relay for Life. We feel that in loving others who have or had cancer and their family members that we are indirectly giving to Mom.
Gastonia, NC