This post is going to come more from the heart and not really say anythng about Land Rover’s and excuse me if I have spelling errors in this post. My Mother was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer. When I was told she had breast cancer I didn’t even know how to respond. Usually my faith in God rises to the challenge and I begin to pray, but to be perfectly honest, the idea of my Mom being a cancer patient freaks me out. However, my struggling with accepting the facts doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what my Mother has begun to experience. If you or someone that you know has just found out that they have cancer, then I am writing this for you. Also, for those who may never get cancer, reading this may help you bring peace to someone who has to battle it.
The worst part so far has been the process. First my Mom developes a lump, she’s very aware of how expensive cancer treatments can be so she dismisses the fact that she has a lump and continues to live her regular day to day life. She was waking up, running, eating healthy, and looking beautiful. She showed no signs of sickness so she assumed she was fine. Finally one day she expressed her concerns and we set the appointment to have it checked out. After the doctors had a look at it they said it was a tumor but that it did not appear to be cancer, and they suggested that we have a diopsy done to just make sure that she didn’t have cancer. The biopsy showed that it was in fact cancer, and that she has Ductal Carcinoma, which is the most common and most curable form of breast cancer. Instantly my mind was set at ease when I heard it was common and curable, but the process is pretty brutal. Chemotherapy is what the doctors are suggesting, and they are now saying that my Mom may not have much longer to live since her form of cancer is acting so aggressively. Today she was meeting with a doctor who would give her the life expectancy…… Is MY MOTHER seriously going to have someone tell her how likely she is to be alive next year?….. This all seems to crazy to be true.
Basicly, what I want anyone to learn from reading this post, is that Cancer is a frightening road to walk down. Every single day I talk to my Mom who is tears, and every other day my sister breaks down and my Dad keeps getting found in the garage soaked in tears. This is by far the strongest emotional, physical and mental battle that my family has ever encountered. My brother and I are still shell shocked, and although my emotions have been up and down I have to admit to maintaining a very calm demeener and seeking to understand what is going on, and fully understanding the problem before I react and search for solutions, I suppose that may just be my reaction as a man. But what you need to know is that when you or someone you love battle’s cancer the battle is largely mental. We all know that when your emotions, fears and physical exhaustion run high your mental strength tends to get warn down. My advice is, be solid, be patient and wait for facts, but aggressively educate yourself. I have read a few articles on the type of cancer that my Mom has, and when she is in tears and afraid that she might die, I am able to comfort her with the positive facts. Most often what causes her to break down is a negative thought that isn’t supported by anything that the doctors have found yet. For instance, she is concerned that her heart is un healthy and that her liver is being attacked by the cancer. However, with breast cancer those organs cannot be attacked until the cancer reaches the blood which it accesses through an area in the arm pit. The doctors have not found cancer in her arm pit which means that her heart and liver have not been attacked. However, part of her emotional melt down is this idea that the cancer is taking over her entire body. So I am able to comfort her and correct her thinking by assuring her that her heart and liver are healthy and strong and not being attacked by the cancer.
It’s a freightening idea, I have trouble accepting that my Mother is a cancer patient, she is so beautiful, and young, and she is so full of vision. This is all happening at the most unexpected time, my Mom has just invested a ton of money and is in the middle of growing her business and venturing out into other parts of the country, then this happens. It is all very surreal and I’m not yet convinced that it has actually happened, but I wanted to write about it, and if you read this and want someone to talk to and vent, then I encourage you to contact me. I am writing this blog just to get my thoughts out there, Out of respect for my Moms privacy I haven’t written about this on my facebook or twitter but I figure noone on this site knows me personally, they just know LROffroad.com, but LROffroad.com is run by a very real person who experiences life just like you. Not that that should surprise you, but I would like to help whoever I can who is in a similar situation. Take care, and God Bless…….. -Dante(LROffroad.com guy)
