Personal Narrative: My Life With Stage Three Leukemia Cancer

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.

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.

“We can’t go out tonight. I already told you that.” Cali told her best friend Caleb now very annoyed.

During the 2007 I got great news, I was accepted at UNC-Charlotte. Meanwhile, I had no idea 2007 my world would be turned upside down with bad news. My mother’s broth and sister were both diagnosis with Cancer. What’s most painful both siblings pasted away six months apart? Meanwhile, more bad news came my way when I mother was diagnosis with Cancer and Renal failure. I talked to my mother’s medical team, they voice they never seen where three siblings having cancer all at once in the same year, just months apart. Consequently, my mother survived her cancer just after two chemo treatments. I came home every weekend to help with her care. One promise to my mother I made was not to drop out of school, it was important to her that I finished

There is nothing anyone could have done. My sister didn’t mean to get cancer, and she couldn’t have stopped it from growing. I just wish things had happened differently and that my entire family wouldn’t be turned away from me now.

Realizing that somebody whom I considered invincible throughout my whole life had suddenly been affected by cancer was life changing to me. Uncle Chris has not only been my idol since before I could remember, but my immediate family cherishes him as well. In fact, my parents even named me Chris in honor of my uncle. The moment I was told that he was diagnosed with cancer and had to suffer through chemotherapy changed my life to this day. It was a realization that life is often unfair, and a person whom you would least expect, can suffer serious, life-threatening illness. I’ve learned

Have you ever feel like luck is not by your side.? That’s how I felt for many years. The environment in which I was raised shaped me into a resilient person and I’m thankful for that because I survived both cancer and my parents’ divorce.

Supporting my uncle through his fight with cancer was a life changing experience that opened my eyes to the rapid pace of cancer development and to how devastating it can be to families involved. My role in his time consisted of supporting him closely through his journey until his final hours. Although this was an emotionally draining experience, it taught me resilience and made me more determined to give the best support I can to people in

Everything in life can be associated with a color, happiness is a bright and inviting yellow, while sadness could be a dull and dismal grey. One afternoon, my twin brother, Chris, and I were sitting on the couch, smiling and laughing with one another. Vibrant shades of yellows and oranges surrounded us and made me feel safe and at ease. Our parents walked into the living room with somber looks on their faces, my mother looked upset. That was the day I found out my mother had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. The Russell’s lifestyle was challenged now with a horrible plague my mother was burdened with. The prominent color present in the house went from a warm red to a darker shade, a color I associate with the threat of death. Something about that didn’t sit well with me.

About two hundred thousand people die a day, and fifty-six million die a year. Each person lost daily and yearly has to leave behind a loved one. In the Exeter book “The Seafarer” translated by Ralph Burton, “The Wanderer” translated by Charles W. Kennedy, and “The Wife’s Lament” translated by Ann Stanford can all be summarized in saying that they have to deal with the pain and sadness of losing a significant other. Each was miserable and had to find a way to cope with the feeling of loneliness. In December it will be two years since my grandpa Schneider passed away. Over seven years ago we found out he had bone cancer. With the condition his heart was in, he couldn’t handle having chemo. With bone cancer and old age

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.

Many people experience moments which help define them; for me, that defining moment came through loss. Nearly four years ago, my entire world was shaken to its very foundation from the death of my mother. After many tumultuous years, my mother lost her battle with breast cancer in 2012. Though coping with her death proved to be the most challenging obstacle I would ever face, it proved to also have a silver lining. Through my adversity, I have been introduced to a community of cancer families which have provided me with endless support during my times of struggle, and to whom I have been able to comfort in their own times of need.

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

I am thankful to share that the PET scan indicated that my lymphoma is in remission. Going forward, I will need to see the doctor every few months and be scanned every six. We are praying that I will be cured from this and for continued direction, how does God want us to use what we learned during these past 6 months? God allowed this to happen for a reason and we do not want to forget the lessons He taught us or what He may be calling us to do as a result.

Death is an experience that every individual must deal with at one point in their life. Personally, I have little experience with death, but I have dealt with it through the pain felt by those surrounding me. When my Grandfather passed away, I did not experience any sort of loss, as I had only met him one time, but I supported my Mother as she grieved the loss of her father. Over time, I have supported friends who have lost family members, but was never forced to deal with death directly. Due to my inexperience with death and dying, I continue to have a fear of what is unknown to me.