Читать книгу Pink Ribbon Stories: A Celebration of Life - Tammy Miller - Страница 8

It was October 2001; I was a senior in high school, and looking forward to spring break, prom, and graduating. It was an evening after school around mid October when my mom called me down to the living room for a talk. I wasn’t sure what was going on but at 17 when your mom “wants to talk” I must have done something wrong. As I came down the step mom seemed very calm, I sat on the couch and I heard the words I never expected to hear out of my mom, “honey I have breast cancer”. Hearing those five words I went totally numb, I couldn’t think of anything but the anger that was quickly building in me. This is my mom she is not suppose to get sick, she is too young and has too much going for her. I stormed out of the house, mad that this was happening to my mom.

The next few days were filled with lots tears, and with the help of my very good friend Diane those tears were accepted and I was comforted with open arms. I didn’t want to face this, in my mind it wasn’t happening, but I had to face it and deal with it so I could be strong for my mom. I decided in the few days following the announcement that if my mom had to have chemo and lost her hair I was shaving my head. I didn’t care about senior prom, graduation, or any other special event that I was going to do whatever I could to support my mom.

A few weeks later after the shock wore off, I was able to sit and talk with my mom, and she was completely open to whatever questions I had. She answered those questions to the best of her ability and the ones she didn’t know she was very good about getting me the answers. The first big hurdle was I felt I needed to be home more to help with the house and just be there in case she needed me. I was able to leave school everyday around 10AM because I had all the classes I needed to graduate and there was a special program that I was accepted for that dealt with situations like this.

The next big hurdle was mom’s first surgery, I don’t like hospitals to begin with, and I really didn’t like seeing my mom in one. My friend Diane made sure to be there with me, she never left my side. While we waited in the waiting room she would tell me jokes, we would laugh about good memories, and she was just a strong support for me. When the doctor came out and told us the news that everything was fine, and he was pretty sure he got it all I felt a huge relief, I almost felt like collapsing because this was the best case scenario. Seeing my mom in a hospital bed still groggy from the medicine was scary but the fear went away when I saw that the doctor drew a little Mickey Mouse on her incision site, and she was wearing clown shoes. I knew from that day on that my mom was going to be fine, she was going to fight this, and it would change our lives forever and for the better.

Going through the cancer with my mom made me stronger, because I saw how it made her stronger. She was given the freedom to write a book, and make her own decisions in her healthcare. She never had to go through chemo luckily; she researched and chose an alternate treatment plan. It has been almost ten years I have seen all the positive things that came out of her cancer, she had met some amazing people, she has been involved with organizations that touch so many, and most importantly she has showed me how important family is. I have always been proud of my mom, but now I am more proud than I have ever been. I have been told that I light up and glow when I talk about her. I see a lot of my mom in me, and I hope that I always have the strength that she showed going through this experience, and it is something I carry with me forever.

I LOVE YOU TAMMY MILLER and I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!

Lacey lives in Port Matilda, PA with her big fat cat, Tyke. She works full time at Penn State University, where she is also a recent graduate. In her spare time she enjoys bowling, pet sitting and hanging out with friends and family.