When you hear the word cancer your world just stops spinning while everyone else’s world continues to spin. In may 2023 me and my mom were on our way to Hilton Head Island for a mom and daughter beach trip. I was driving and my mom began coughing and she couldn’t stop we thought it was pollen.
We thought it was pollen, but the cough wouldn’t go away. So began our journey to get answers. The now care clinic the weekend of the July 4th Holiday we were told sinusitis prescribed an antibiotic and sent on our way. The cough didn’t go away. My gut told me it wasn’t sinusitis but I was hopeful the antibiotic would work.
The cough didn’t go away so we went to her primary care to the walk in clinic to which I asked could it be asthma, COPD or something besides sinusitis or pollen? The resident said “oh it could be asthma let me go get the attending!” The attending entered the room and said oh this is nothing more than allergies. We thought it was pollen, but the cough wouldn’t go away!
Mom continued to get worse so back to the walk in clinic we went and this time thankfully she ordered a chest xray and prescribed Steroids.
We left the doctor and got the chest xray and headed home. We received a phone call that said they found a nodule and needed a CT scan. We headed to the hospital and got thr CT scan.
The cough wouldn’t go away, we thought it was pollen! The next day after the initial CT scan is when my world stopped spinning. My mom’s doctor called me and said the nodule is 2.5 cm and there is lymph node enlargement. I sat on the phone silently and listened as he said this could be cancer———————— this statement took days to settle in, I just lost it crying the way home.
Tears flowed all evening as we discussed what we would do, mom said I am a fighter we will fight this!!!! The cough wouldn’t go away… we thought it was pollen.
The following week after the CT scan
I messaged my mom’s doctor who told me to get her to the walk in clinic ASAP. She was struggling to breathe had reactive airway and strider. They direct admitted her to the hospital with community acquired pneumonia and we began treatment(antibiotics and steroids) we spent the weekend in the hospital.
Monday the pulmonology team came in and scheduled a bronchoscopy with biopsy. We waited all day and finally at 3:30 they came to get her to do the bronch
After the bronch they took mom to the recovery room and the doctor came in and said the mass(that is different it was a nodule now a mass) let that sink in. Then he said the mass was blocking her main airway 70%, the lymph nodes were necrotic, he was able to get a good tissue sample from the mass and lymph nodes. As he was starting to leave he said this is very suspicious for cancer.
We thought it was pollen, the cough wouldn’t go away. Now we have a mass blocking airway necrotic lymph nodes and it looks like cancer. Queue the tears, I couldn’t hold them back.
Spinning faster
My world had stopped spinning but as fast as it stopped now it is spinning even faster than before, spinning at a dizzying rate.
So many appointments, so many tests, do we get a second opinion, how do we get a second opinion, research on the best treatment options…. all while keeping a close eye on moms symptoms and continually increasing shortness of breath. I am getting it together and we are doing what is best for mom, getting a second opinion, getting all the required tests and getting treatment started asap!!!!
what my mom is to me
my best friend
According to Websters dictionary a best friend is one who is the closest dearest friend, or most valuable resource. That is her she is my best friend! Not while growing up she was just my mom but as a girl grows up her mom becomes her friend and eventually her best friend.
my roommate
When I was 10 my dad went home to heaven and left me and my mom we quickly became an unbreakable pair. We have been together just me and her for 26 years! Have we had words…. oh my goodness yes but tell me one couple (friends, family, married couple) who doesn’t have words every once and a while. We have fun in the kitchen, we watch all the reality TV, medical dramas, magnolia network and food network, work outside in the yard and enjoy fixing our house up both inside and outside!
my travel partner
No one else I would rather beach with or travel by plane, train or car with!!!! We have beach plans right now Hilton Head and probably Florida panhandle too. The other day mom mentioned Hawaii so let’s go!!!!
my Biggest cheerleader
I would not be anywhere close to where I am today without my mom pushing me and cheering for me!!!! Right now I am getting ready to go back to school to get my doctorate mainly because of her encouraging me to do so. Back in June I sat for a very hard certification test and found it I passed we hugged and screamed and jumped up and down…in the middle of a store!!!! She is the best cheerleader and support system.
my partner in crime
I mean we don’t really commit Crimes but I can get us involved in some ministries and projects sometimes crazy projects too!!! She has always been right there. We are a package deal if you want me to do something you get my mom too or vice versa.
my go to person
The person I call when I get to work, when I leave work, when I am stressed at work, when I am having car trouble or what do I do when I don’t have a certain ingredient for a new recipe.
my confidant
She knows all of my secrets, who I go to when I have a question about anything! The person I want to talk to about everyday mundane stuff, and the more serious life changing stuff!
my souix chef
In 2020 me and mom began an adventure in cooking I would make up recipes and then we woukd try them out, she even photographs our didhes!!!! We have so much fun in the kitchen!
my photographer and biz partner
she takes most of my outfit photos for my blog and stylist business. When I opened my stylish stationery business mom is the official paper cutter, shipper and anything else around the studio!
my mom
mom, momma, mommy, mother an irrereplaceable figure in a person’s life, I mean the person who protects you, teaches you, inspires you, guides you, directs you, feeds you, calls you out when you are wrong, tells you the truth, comforts you, supports you, celebrates you, a shoulder to cry on when things don’t go right, this is my mom she is everything to me and my 2 sisters!!!!
not to mention who she is to everyone else
A mom, mom-maw, sister, aunt, friend, silly Sally, neighbor, friendly face at Walmart, helper, giver, awesome cook, (nothing beats Sally’s sweet tea),
so to cancer we have something to say
A note to cancer
Even though we thought it was pollen, the cough wouldn’t go away. We now have a diagnosis of cancer more specifically nsclc in the right hilar region of her lung with metastasis to lymph nodes on mediastinum. So to you cancer we just want you to know- YOU CANT HAVE HER!!! We will fight for her, she is fighting, the Lord is on her side. You won’t win this!!!!!!