My Father's Story with Cancer

I reminisce with all members of my family the day we received the news from our doctor that my father had prostate cancer. We got that news like thunder in our ears, because just one year before we had lost our sister to breast cancer, and we still remember how much pain and suffering the cancer had caused. As a result nobody in our family believed that we were going to lose our father either. My father suffered prostate cancer for nearly two years, because the cancer had already spread to his bones. Before my father had discovered the cancer, he suffered from pain in his back so as a result of this back pain, he visited the doctor and he started to take some medication to relieve the back pain. He also tried to use a crutch to

It was a typical day in the McDougal household; my sister was acclimating to college life, my annoying little brother was pushing my buttons, and my only worry was whether I was going to pass my next bio test. My dad was getting ready for a business trip to Singapore but decided to stop by the doctors for a quick checkup for his abdomen. Scans came back showing that the bump on his belly button was metastasized Stage IV Liver Cancer. I was completely devastated and couldn’t comprehend how my role model could have so much chaos inside of him. It took weeks before I could go a day without crying as I thought about my future without one of my biggest supporters. It seems for every glimmer of hope for a new treatment, a new, insurmountable brick wall appears when the scans show the treatment’s failure. As cliché as it sounds, every day truly is a rollercoaster; some days better than others. However, we slowly have adapted to this new reality and have truly understood that falling down is a part of life, but getting back up is living.

My parents had just attained engagement when they found out my dad had cancer. My dad had Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma stage four at the age of 25 in1996. My mom and dad were shocked but had hope my dad would make it. My dad has inspired me to be the best I can be and not let anyone stop me. This unexpected event happened before I was born but tremendously affected me. This my dad’s unforgettable story.

It was October 22, 2017….first period of freshman year my best friend Casey got a call to the office. She came back in the room and looked distraught there were tears rolling down her face. Casey never had this look on her face and she never

In my narrative essay, I chose to write about an experience from my youth that has affected me as an adult. I explain the tragic and heartbreaking details of my father’s fight with Lymphoma cancer, and his eventual death when I was eleven years of age and every detail is true. Although the majority of the essay my pull on the reader’s heart strings, the main point made both in the thesis and at the end was that a positive lesson was learned that has impacted my life as an adult from particular event that took place the night before he passed away. This event was a time when I had to really reach into my being and show tremendous courage to hold myself together and not cry in front of my father, because if I had done so, he would have known that the cancer had spread to his brain, and that he was

One experience that truly shaped the person that I am today is my Father’s on going battle with cancer. Over the course of 3 months the tumor had grown from the size of a dime to the size of a small orange in his neck. My Father had then gotten surgery to remove the stage 4 cancerous tumor. After finding out the cancer spread to the other side of his neck, he underwent another surgery. This has all taken place from June through September 2017. He is currently recovering from the second surgery and preparing for Chemotherapy. The situation in which I was forced into has had many positive impacts on me as a person and continues to as it progresses. After being forced into the situation I have changed very much as a person and a student. Having

As an 11-year-old child most kids worry about going outside to play with friends or on their cell phones not most, children worry about if there is going to be dinner on the table, or if the water is shut off, or if the electricity isn’t working. Most kids don’t have to grow up and act like an adult until their 18 or 19 years old. Not many children at the young age of 11 have to sit and wander if today or tomorrow is the last time they get to see their dad.

“He has cancer! The doctor said he has a week to two months to live,” my mother blubbered. I will always remember the feeling of emptiness that followed those words. My uncle, Tony, had been in and out of the hospital for over a month with doctors saying things like “it won’t hurt him to lose any weight and he is depressed from having his teeth removed.” A million questions started running through my head. “Why him?” I mean he has already been through so much and having Down Syndrome makes it so hard for him to understand what is going on with him. “Why did it take them so long to find it?” He was literally there the night before and they sent him home with an antibiotic. “How does someone who has never smoked get throat cancer?” This question

My grandma’s strength pushed her into remission, but the cancer came back. I brought her to chemotherapy treatments. I chatted with her about school and the classes I was excited to start next year. Throughout her fight she never made anything about her; she always focused on me and how I was doing. I used to watch her in the kitchen every holiday, making a dinner for twenty-five without breaking a sweat. Eventually I watched her struggle, needing more help than she wanted to ask for. I witnessed her become victim to cancer, I never lost sight of the woman she was and neither did she, strong.

It all started when my Mom went on a retreat at St.Timothy church, when she meet a mother of two girls, Shanna Rodriguez-Torres. We then became close friends and met her daughter Bella, who would change my family's life forever. Bella had been battling a severe case of cancer during this time. When I met Bella she wasn’t famous there wasn't snt any cool socks, or anything, she was your normal sweet girl. Yet she wasn't nt how you thought, she battled cancer at age 4. because of that time she lost many of her memory. She forgot how to walk, talk and other things. The doctors said she would never walk or run again, she showed them she walked in a walker for a short time. Soon, very soon she was running and having a blast. That was few of her

With cancer being the second leading cause of death worldwide. This illness has had an impact of the lives of almost every person, and with cancer claiming the lives of both of my paternal grandparents, I am no exception to this statement. My grandparents did not survive their battle with cancer, mostly due to the under development of chronic diseases in my home country, Cuba. While Cuba has an exceptional infectious disease department, their chronic diseases does not provide the same results. I have personal connection with cancer. And this has led me to work to find better treatment options, that can be cheap and efficient, so that less developed countries can have access to better options.

I feel truly blessed to have a second chance in life. My life changed drastically when diagnosed with stage 2 cancer. Not only was my life impacted, my family member’s lives were affected too. Cancer is a serious illness that takes a very strong person to overcome. Being a survivor is a huge accomplishment in life. Any person that builds a strong enough immune system to surpass the array of illness produce from the sickness is looked upon as a hero. A cancer survivor is a unique individual. Cancer is a very powerful and harmful disease that affects human being on a daily basis.

When he collapsed from treatment-induced pulmonary complications and a flash metastasis, it was like waking into my worst nightmare. Three days later I watched my father take his last breath as he was surrounded by his family, his mother, wife, daughter and me. He drifted away over the course of 10 min or so, slowly fading. I remember thinking it was like watching him sail away on deployment with the Navy. The next few weeks are still a blur of emotion even 24 years later. I remember calling out the time when he took his last breath matter-of-factly. I remember saying I was ok, but within 10 minutes or so I was running down the hospital floor hall crying and eventually screaming in sorrow in the hospital floor waiting room at Bethesda Naval Hospital. We had the funeral 7 days later on Dec 23rd of 1992, and 900 miles away at a National Cemetery in Florida. I remember nothing of that Christmas beside the funeral. It was several more years before I fully understood and appreciated my feelings regarding my father’s death, and even now grief can still affect me especially on the

After March 4th, losing my cousin’s battle with cancer, everything just went downhill from there. Cancer being a hereditary scares the crap out of me. Everything just seemed to stop. I wasn't training for runs (for a cause). I just felt like he took a piece of me with him when he went 6-feet under. He was only 30 years old and still had a life ahead of him, but was gone too fast. Married to Melissa, who is an inspiration for being able to withstand pressure. His daughter who was diagnosed with Leukemia when she was 2-years old and has been a survivor for a few years now… baby Izzy. She was one of his inspirations to do great things. He became one of the founder of #TEAMCANCERSUCKS, joined quite a few triathlons, received a few sponsors. He

When I was 8 years old my dad, Héctor Luis Acevedo, was diagnosed with a stage 4 non hodkin’s lymphoma, a cancer that attacks the immune system. I remember the day my parents gave me and my siblings the announcement like it was yesterday. It was May 2010th, they told us at home and then we went to church and that’s when I told my parents I wanted to do my First Holy Communion because I wanted my dad there with me on that special moment. They talked to the priest and they agreed I was going to have my First Holy Communion in May. The doctors here in Puerto Rico told my dad he only had 2 months to live because his cancer was really advanced. It wasn’t until my dad went to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas that they told him his cancer could be treated. My parents where off for a long time and everyone we knew prayed for my dad to get better, they also gave us money to pay for the treatments, and the stay and food which were all crazy expensive, I remember the priest gave my mom like a thousand dollars from the money he had been saving and he told my mom to accept the money because he couldn’t ever hear my dad died because he didn’t have enough money. Well guess what, in two months for my First Holy Communion my dad was already better and almost completely cancer free. I don’t want any kid or parent to go through any of this, that’s why I’m