How Cancer Affects a Family

My great grandfather, was diagnosed with bladder cancer when I was in fifth grade but he got treatment and seemed to be going better, until my seventh grade year when he began having pain but luckily it wasn’t cancer, he just had to have stents put in his ureters and keep up with doctors appointments and taking his medicine. Everything settled down for around a year and a half but then in the December of my freshman year, there was a cancerous tumor found on my father’s

One night in January, I couldn't sleep and it was 4am and then out of the blue I got a call from my sister.. At first all I had was questions, “What do you mean his organs are shutting down?” And then she said it-- grandpa’s dying. She called telling me that our grandpa, who was battling cancer on and off for eight years,

My mom had to take my uncle Raymond to radiation every day for about 3 months, now she has to take him every three months, which affected her daily routine and how she planned her day. She also takes care of him a lot although he isn’t in the hospital or anything he isn’t very ill yet but from what I know I’m sure he will get sick. My uncle David was in his home when he passed away because he was on hospice, this effected everyone who lived in the house. When my uncle David passed away it was a very emotional time for the whole family, however it was kind of a happy moment as well because we knew he wasn’t suffering any more. My uncle David saw all his brothers and sisters before he passed some say that he was waiting to see them all before he said goodbye which could be true. Every person in a family who loses a family member has to deal with the emotional state of each other, some family members can handle death better than others so they are the strong ones in the situation. Cancer effects the whole family not just the patient.

When I got my family was around our wooden table. My dad on his soft voice said “ I don’t think your grandpa will go through one more night, you need to call him” he cried. I felt like I couldn’t do it, felt so week and a huge hole in my stomach, something I’ve never felt before, I grabbed the phone and when I was about to call, the phone ringed, I passed the phone to my dad, It was my aunt sobbing and barely able to speak, then she said “ he passed away, I’m sorry honey” I couldn’t believe it I didn’t even had the chance to say

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among the world. Cancer affects almost every family in the United States and if it hasn’t then you should consider yourself lucky! I know that this terrible disease has affected my family tremendously. When I say that it has affected my family, I mean that it tore our world apart! Breast Cancer is something that I hold dear to my heart and will almost always be involved with in some way, shape, or form.

The call was from the hospital. We suspected something horrible had happened. I started crying right there. My mom turned the car around and sped back to Good Samaritan hospital. At around 1:15 my mom and I rushed into the hospital and ran back onto the floor that he was on. My mom got there first, she stopped in the doorway and that’s when I knew something was wrong. I started to sob harder. I fell to the floor sobbing into my hands. When I heard my Grandma cry out in anguish, I knew it was all over for my Grandpa. I

My grandmother never really felt like herself for about a year and a half, but every time she called her doctor they would call her in prescription drugs to take and they would hope that it would work. Over time the medicine did not work so my grandmother ended up having to go to the hospital because she had lost nearly sixty pounds. After the doctors ran a bunch of tests, they found out that the weight loss happened because of diabetes. Later that day, the doctors came back saying that she not only had diabetes, but they also diagnosed her with lung cancer. Considering all the weight that she had lost, the doctor could not do much for her lung cancer. They said that if she had not lost that much weight,

I never thought I would be affected so deeply by one word. Cancer tore my whole world apart in what felt like an instant. When my mother was diagnosed, never did I imagine it would take her away from me. I was essentially just a child who never thought about death. Let alone, the death of the one person who is responsible for bringing me into this world. I went through a lot during the course of a couple months. From the doctor’s appointments, to multiple hospital environments, then finally getting the call I never thought would come. One thing that I will carry with me is not having my mom there to witness all the important things happening in my life as I get older. The most difficult thing I had to cope with was I had to grow from a child

Sitting in the bedroom felt like an eternity, my mom was talking on the phone with the doctor still and there was so many thoughts racing my mind it is like time stopped at that very moment. Right at that point I knew life was gonna change for all of us not just her. She needs all the hope, treatment, prayers, and most importantly love as

One day she became violently ill. She wouldn’t eat nor drink anything, and she could not keep ice down. This had happened a couple times before, so my father drove us to the hospital. As we arrived patients filled the room, some slumped over in aching pain, others face down in a bucket, as we walked into the emergency room. My mother was able to go in right away because her friend from work was waiting for her, as he was a head

It didn’t take long though, for cancer to become a trip to the emergency room after my mom had severe back pain. Cancer was a pain, one that didn’t ever go away. Cancer was a heartless doctor explaining my mom’s expiration date. Two weeks, the doc said my mom would be lucky if she lived that long. Cancer had not only been in her breast, but in her bones, lung, liver, and skin as well. Cancer was a hospital room full of family. It was my mom with a huge smile plastered on her face despite hearing the horrid news. Cancer was her telling our entire family that it was the best day of her life, not because she was told she was going to die, but because she had her entire family there supporting her.

informed us that the tests indicated that my mother had terminal lung cancer. The doctor was quite blunt when he said she had about six months left and should put her things in order.

A year ago today I lost the woman I called mom to cancer. Most days I still have trouble believing she's really gone. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about calling her and telling her about my day and realizing that I can't. There are days when all I can think about are how I won't get to have her at my wedding or how she'll never meet my kids. Days I feel lost and I mourn the memories we never made or the things I never got to tell her, days where I wonder if she would be proud of the woman I have become. I often dwell on all that could've been but never will be and today is definitely one of those days. But I do cherish the moments and memories we did get together. My mom was one of the best people I knew. She always put

The week of her death, we spoke to her almost every day. I was in military training and we went to see her just days before I started training. I was a week away from graduation and I told her as soon as I graduated I was coming to see her. That Wednesday my mother called and said things weren’t looking good and we would be lucky if my mother-in-law made it to the end of the week. We spoke to my mother-in-law and she put up that brave voice saying she is okay.

“I have cancer” is certainly not a pleasant phrase to hear from your loved one. The night of November 22 of 2014, the same night I got back from New Orleans, I was informed my mother had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. The night started off as expected by telling my experiences from the trip, giving my family members the souvenirs I bought, and showing off the wonderful pictures I took. After the experiences were told, souvenirs were given, and the pictures were seen I could tell by the nervous tension something was wrong. I was then told to sit down because we needed to have a family discussion about the news my mother had received. The talk started by my mother saying “I have kidney cancer.” then escalated to the plans of treatment.