Personal Narrative: My Mother's Metamorphosis

As a child, I thought my parents were invincible. I grew up believing they were superheroes who had the ability to whisk away all my problems. Unfortunately, when I was 15-years-old, my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The hardest part about his diagnosis was that his sister had been diagnosed with MS a couple years before and we had seen her health deteriorate so quickly that she was already wheelchair bound. During this time my family was scared. The little information we knew about MS did not seem hopefully and we were worried about what the future would hold for our family. Lucky, we were blessed with a great neurologist who eased the insecurity we felt and gave my father the strength to be optimistic about his diagnosis.

My mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2013, at the age of 57. My father passed away in 2005, so I was completely reliant on my mother to have the role of both parents. Her diagnosis has drastically fueled my motivation to become a Physical Therapist as the best career for me to truly help her, and anyone else, despite the illness or injury. I plan on using my desire to take care of all conditions

Eight years ago my mother was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis, the most common form of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affecting up to 85% of the MS patients, with twice as many women being affected as men1. It was a very difficult period for her as she had received very little support from her family and I find it fascinating how she managed to withstand the pressure and fight her condition despite all the odds being against her. For these reasons, I composed a poem from my mother’s point of view to try to empathize with her experience and understand the underlying issues of her condition. To have a sound foundation for this poem, I have carried out a

A hardship that my family and I faced was my mother being placed on disability. When I was four years old, she stepped off a ladder wrong and slipped a disk in her back. To repair the disk, it required multiple surgeries. As a result, she is still on disability. During this time, my father was the main breadwinner in our house, so money was sometimes a tough thing to come by. On top of my mother’s medical issues, I have my own medical issues. I have always had some minor issues, but in the last couple of years they have started to become more serious. During my senior year, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. This syndrome is chronic and so are some of the other issues that comes with it. Now that I am currently enrolled in college,

Continually, my father would come home from work weaker and disable sometimes he could barely stand up. He started getting blurry purple spots on him and that's when I figured something wasn't the same about my father. He used to always carry himself with energy and laughter but, now he couldn’t get out of bed. We took him to the hospital and they told us he had stage 2 cancer. This experience has not only changed me as a person but changed the way I had to live for a while. When my father had to be on around the clock care at the hospital me and my older sister had to help out around the house. While most 4th graders were outside playing with their friends, I was inside everyday helping my mom cook, clean, and feed the dogs. I had to step up a lot and do more thing that i'm not used to because my dad wasn't around to help us out. We would go up to the hospital about every other night and stay up there and spend the night watching over my dad at night. My dad’s cancer taught me that life is too short to be wasting my time on the little things that aren't even important! I’ve realized l I need to make every minute and every moment

As she walked away with the check and cash the phone buzzed, reading the message he smiled. Looking at her she didn't come across as someone sick, though you could never tell just by looking if someone was terminally ill. Often it was something inside, that ate away, only apparent at the end. A finger on his lips as he watched her open up the antique cash register and count out his change, which he did not want. For a moment he wondered, could he do it? Would it be worth it? She wasn't gorgeous, women like that only plan their own demise in the movies. No one in real life does it, and a gorgeous woman that a man instantly falls in love with, no one would do it. Or a madman.

My family represents my world. My parents have to sacrificed work time and career plans to take me to doctor visits and provide me with all the extra medical care needed. Both of my parents have always been there to support and guide me, especially in the difficult times. At the age of three, I was diagnosed with scleroderma. Scleroderma is a chronic connective tissue disease that involves the hardening and tightening of the skin and connective tissues. This disease has made life goals more challenging and difficult to accomplish. But I believe has given me more strength to stay stronger that I can anything accomplish anything that I put my mind to. At school, I have managed to develop into a strong person who can multitask between school and doctor appointments. Despite I have stayed focused on my goals. My goals are to transfer, attend a university

Since I was a kid, I had a ton of responsibilities, cleaning up after myself, doing chores, managing to not fight with my brother, although we fought all day everyday, but you know, it happens. One thing that I didn't know wasn't normal was parenting your parent. I go to school do all my class work and during recess and lunch I listened to all the other kids talk about going to the park after school and eating dinner together with their parents. When I got home from school, I had to do my homework and then take care of my mother. Bring her things she needed such as food, water, help her with many other simple everyday activities. Of course I wasn't the only one who was her “little helper” as she put it, my dad helped her and my older brother by two years,

Did you ever do something that you knew, without a doubt; would send your mother into the twilight zone? This is the dilemma I found myself in and for weeks I considered the possible ramifications of my action and not one was lined with silver. Left with no alternative I played several rounds of eeny, meeny, miny, moe, before I made my final decide to withdraw from the acclaimed J. C. West Academy at the conclusion of my junior year.

The summer of 2015 brought many memorable events for me including celebrating my sweet sixteenth birthday and passing my drivers test. However, my mother’s diagnosis of breast cancer and her journey fighting that awful disease was the event that most marked my transition from childhood to adulthood. I have a very close knit family and before my mother’s diagnosis, everyone had been very healthy. I guess I took a lot for granted including my family’s health, and I didn’t realize or consider what really was important in life. Prior to my mother’s illness I was a typical self centered teenager, not really concerned with anyone else but myself. I had always seen my mother, a full-time nurse, as a strong person who took good care of herself and her family. When I first learned that my healthy 48 year old mom had breast cancer, I was so scared. The thought of losing my mom made me feel very vulnerable. However, I soon found an inner strength and courage that I never knew I was capable of possessing.

When I was eight years old I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. It was sudden and unexpected; it was extremely painful, and heartbreaking. It has been one of the most difficult obstacles my family and I have had to deal with. I reacted to my diagnosis with courage because I knew I had to be strong if I wanted to survive. My diagnosis affected my early childhood school attendance because I missed a lot of classes due to doctor appointments. I started to get behind in school and it was difficult for me to keep up with the lesson plans. Getting Rheumatoid Arthritis also made many daily things difficult for me like: sports, making friends, and doing everyday chores/tasks. Growing up I thought I would not be able to attend a four year university

My mother was successful in earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree. Using her educated background, she was able to provide me with all my needs and almost all my wants. My mother was in the progress of working on her Doctorate’s, but she was forced to withdraw this year, due to an illness. On October 7, 2016, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. This upcoming news caught us by surprise. After hearing about this new, I try to put on a façade; not revealing my true emotions. Whenever I would talk to her about the illness, I tried to stay positive and strong. But deep inside me, I felt as if my hold world was coming down upon me. But then I told myself that I could not let this bring me nor my mom down. My mom did not raise a quitter. So instead of this disease as a burden, I use it as an inspiration. My mom worked hard for me to be successful and have the best life a child could possibly have. I plan to be successful in the future, to show her hard work, dedication, and love has paid

Despite having no financial problem and having a fine amount of money at hand, still, my mother could not look after us because of many reasons: First, she was living in a male-dominant society. Second, this was highly difficult and dangerous for her to

According to, The University of La Verne fifty percent of all college students go in to careers that does not fit their degree chose. Though the numbers may have been different from when my mother went to college, but people have been changing their minds about their future since the beginning.

I am a firm believer that the career choice that a person makes can say a lot about their passions and character. Helping others and exercising are two of my favorite hobbies, which eventually led me to decide my the best suited field of college study, a doctorate in Physical Therapy. In 2013, I began to seriously consider the profession I wanted to study in college. Unfortunately in that same year, my mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Immediately, I decided to choose a course of study that actively benefits people, especially those with debilitating diseases. Her diagnosis has drastically fueled my motivation to study Physical Therapy for a future the most beneficial career for me to truly help her and others, despite the illness or injury. My mother had been a runner until her Multiple Sclerosis caused severe muscle weakness, causing extreme pain. I currently use my knowledge that I’ve gained through studying in a Sports