Essay On How Cancer Has Changed My Life

I have faced many adversities in my life; the most significant one being the passing of my dad. My dad battled with Multiple Myeloma since 2012, and unfortunately lost that battle on March 22nd, 2015. He was being treated for his cancer in Mexico, so when he became seriously ill I had to travel to see him. I visited him during winter break of my junior year and stayed a few days after my break was over. When I came back, I was behind in Chemistry. I went in on a daily basis to receive extra help from my teacher. All my hard work payed off as I earned an A in Chemistry my entire junior

Cancer. How interesting that a six-letter word can strike fear in deepest part of a person’s heart, alter an entire life plan, and bring a sense of uncertainty and hopelessness in a matter of minutes. Today, cancer is a word that is used often, as it affects almost every life in some way. Although the diagnosis is a common one, the process that each person takes to cope with cancer is anything but common. The graphic novel Cancer Made Me A Shallower Person: A Memoir in Comics written by Miriam Engelberg shows her journey with cancer from the time she is given her diagnosis. Engelberg is open about her struggles and fears in coming to grips with her diagnosis, but she is able to communicate in a way that shows humor can be found in even the most difficult situation. Although she is clear about the difficulty of being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of forty-three, she resists the temptation to fall into self-pity and hopelessness. Although the story focuses on the author trying to see the lighter moments in her battle, the illustrations seem to also show the fear, uncertainty, and depression that come with a cancer diagnosis. Throughout the novel, Elgelberg does a great job of showing the struggles of keeping a light-hearted attitude while coping with cancer, and the illustrations help capture both the seriousness and humor of the story.

Leukemia is “a malignant progressive disease in which the bone marrow and other blood-forming organs produce increased numbers of immature or abnormal leukocytes. These suppress the production of normal blood cells, leading to anemia and other symptoms.”An estimated combined total of 162,020 people in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, 60,192 people die, 14% live in remission and my father is just another statistic. When I was nine years old, my father was diagnosed with Leukemia, an illness that at the time I did not understand. This left my mother raising two kids and working two jobs to make ends meet. Throughout this time of never ending hospital visits, I experienced the kindness and care provided to us by my father’s doctors - something that until this day I will never forget.

On May 11th 2013, my grandma passed away due to pancreatic cancer. A little later that year on September 25th, my mom received a call from my aunt in Guam that my dad had passed away in his sleep. Then on May 14th 2014, my grandpa passed from complications of an allergic reaction to a medication. So within a year, I was left to deal with three immediate family deaths, one right after another. Losing such important figures in one’s life could leave someone depressed and unmotivated to move on with their own life and to rise above those challenges is difficult, yet possible. During this time of hardship, I grew discouraged and saddened, but over time I became motivated to set aside these struggles and make a change.

Through all of the challenging things that took place while my father was fighting cancer, I learned many valuable lessons. My parents decided that my father would undergo chemotherapy and radiation at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Newnan, Georgia. Normally, they would be gone for about two weeks at a time, but there were a couple occasions that my parents were forced to stay there for months due to major surgeries. Home alone in Florida, my brother and I had very different schedules. So, I was alone most of the time. I was only a sophomore in high school, and I found myself having to do pretty much everything on my own. Even though it was onerous, this time in my life is very meaningful to me. It taught me that I will not always have someone to rely on. Even if it was a little earlier than normal, I am thankful that I was forced to become as independent as I am today. I value this chapter in my life, because I believe that being strong and independent is very critical to being able to survive in the world we live in

16 years old. That’s how old I was when my whole life changed. Not only did I lose a man that raised me and taught me to be the best version of myself, but I was also diagnosed with Wegener’s Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis. The beginning of my junior year was, to put it lightly, hectic. The first day I missed went by, my head pounding as I sat in a hospital room. My grandfather laid in the hospital bed and I caught word of the diagnosis. Stage Four Pancreatic Cancer. That word, “cancer”, spoke volumes within my buzzing mind. I laid my head on my Papa’s bed next to him and began to cry, keeping my face hidden because I didn’t want him to see me cry. He ran his fingers through my hair and sang a song I’d heard my whole life, “You Are My Sunshine”;

When I was twelve years old, a close family friend of mine named Evan (who was my age) was diagnosed with brain cancer. At that age, I hadn’t been introduced to death and nor did I really know or understand what cancer was or that it was possible for people so young to die. Before his death at age thirteen, my sister and I would spend a lot of time with him playing videogames, watching movies and swimming in his backyard pool. We watched the process of Evan losing his hair, having cancer treatments, doing physiotherapy and becoming very weak and fragile and rejecting treatments.

When I turned 11-years-old my whole childhood began to change my life went from being perfect to everything but perfect. One day I came home to hear the news my father, my best friend; my hero was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. Not knowing the struggle my family was about to take on I just began to cry. I had a million things running through my head what’s going to happen? Will everything be okay? Why him? What is going to happen? With all these things rushing through my head all I could do was cry not knowing this was least worse to come.

After such an opportunity and my mom’s illness, I look back on this time and realize that it was then that I truly stopped being a child. Early on in my high school academic career I lacked the maturity and work ethic to be the best student I could be. Our family’s situation caused me to grow up overnight. I am grateful for the lessons I was able to learn at such a young age. Beyond the independence, courage and empathy which I developed during this time, I have learned to enjoy and value my life. I am thankful for each blessing and I work hard with these things in

When you are 12 year old you start to see and hear about cancer. Never thinking your mom would get it. I and my 9 year old sister were walking home from school on a hot sunny day. We usually get home before my mom. But today my mom got home before us. Walking in the door it felt weird felt like something was wrong. I went up stairs to see my mom and see how her day went. She was sleeping. Dinner time came around and we were having my favourite food for dinner chicken broccoli casserole. My mom was being quiet and I saw her struggling to tell me and my sister that she had news for us. Finally after seeing her struggling for some time she finally told us she went to the doctors and they told her she has stage 4 rapidly growing breast cancer. She instantly started crying. I and my sister were both confused why my mom was crying. We did not really know about cancer. Weeks went on and my mom had to have 6 chemotherapy’s and 21 radiations. My dad was never really there for my mom to take care of her. He always stayed out late or would work late always and always have an excuse for not coming home. So imagine at 12 years old checking up with your mom every few hours. Trying to hang with friends and go to school if I went. Then repeat that for a few months and also her siblings came over and try to do as much as they could. It sucked having no life at 12 years old. It was hard not to get sick myself. I felt guilty when I got sick and I was not being able to be

Cancer has affected the lives of each and every one of us alive today. Many people have know someone with cancer, yet even those who haven't have been bombarded with constant reminders of its terrible threat. Although cancer is often referred to as a single condition, it actually consists of more than 100 different diseases, all characterized by the uncontrolled growth, reproduction, and spread of abnormal body cells. All of these diseases are individually unique, yet the basic processes that produce cancers are very similar (Ruddon, 1995). The human body consists of over 30 trillion cells, living in a complex, interdependent harmony. They regulate each other's proliferation; normal cells reproduce

A couple of months before writing this essay, my dad was diagnosed with Lymphoma Cancer. The

According to a prediction by the American Cancer Society, in 2017 it is estimated there will be 1,688,780 new cancer cases diagnosed and around 600,920 of those cases will end in death (“Cancer Facts and Figures 2017”). Imagine if we could cut that number in half, or even find a cure to help these people and their loved ones. With all the research that is being done, this may be possible one day; however, for now we must go through with treatments hospitals provide today. Then see what new treatments will be thought up in the future for better outcomes. There are many factors - treatment, cost, doctors, and families- that contribute to a person’s ability to fight cancer, and the way they deal

A new drug in the UK has embarked on initial clinical trials for advanced cancer patients

Image that you were diagnosed with cancer. You had a bad habit. You did things you didn’t know that could cause cancer. You go to the doctors and they tell you, you have cancer. You start thinking and thinking about what might of cause you to get cancer. Then you realize that your bad habits caused you to get cancer. As a kid, I was curious why do we have such an awful disease? I wanted to start researching about cancer I wanted to learn more and more about cancer. Too many kids and adults are suffering from cancer. While researching cancer, I wanted to know a few things. Is there a cure for cancer? Where did cancer start? Are people the cause of cancer? When did it start? What effects does cancer have? Why do people get cancer? Are they ways to stop cancer with hurting the body? Can people get cancer a second time? After researching about cancer I found out that there is a way to stop cancer from growing, spreading, and harming the body.