My Mom’s Cancer Diagnosis Changed My Outlook on Life

Now she’s cancer-free.

My life changed last year.

I had a normal day until I got on a call with my mom and she said the doctors found a small lump in her breast after her mammogram. She told me not to worry, as she said the doctors find false alarms after mammograms all the time.

“Phewwwwww”, I said.

She told me she’d let me know that everything is okay on the next call…

She never called. So I bit the bullet and called her because she likes to hide a lot of her pain. I clenched my hands still hoping I’d get good news or she had just forgotten to call me.

Hugh.

She uttered the three most heart-wrenching words I heard in my life: “I have cancer.”

My whole body trembled in fear. All I could do was stare at my dorm room ceiling and think the worst. I started having horrible nightmares and I broke down in class crying the next day (making sure no one saw me).

This experience was the most frightening thing I’ve ever been through in my life. But it changed me into a different person. Here are three lessons I’ve learned from it.

1.) You can’t live your life afraid of chasing your dreams — no matter how outlandish they are.

I thought about my mom’s life while she dealt with cancer.

While she’s an amazing single mom who worked tirelessly to make sure my sister and I were fed, I always wonder if she feels her life is fulfilled. She’s been laid off a few times and she’s had problems with doing what she wants to do in life. She’s hated so many of her jobs it proves how much life can suck.

For real. Life is a bitch.

So you better live every second of your life following your dreams. People may think that my writing dream is weird and unattainable, but I don’t care.

I’d rather die trying to follow my dreams than not following them at all.

2.) You can’t live a successful career if you can’t preserve yourself.

My mom has had a whole slew of other health problems prior to her cancer diagnosis.

Heck, my whole family isn’t the healthiest. Diabetes, cancer, heart disease, you name it. We’ve got it all. It’s so ingrained in our eating habits and nonexistent exercising that I kind of gave up before I started.

I viewed those health problems as a self-fulfilling prophecy I couldn’t shake.

But I’d be stupid to sit up here and preach to you my dreams of becoming a writer when I can’t even take care of myself. If you’re not healthy, your dreams go up in smoke.

So I’ve been putting more emphasis on eating healthier and getting some exercise.

I cheat sometimes but that’s life man.

3.) You’re never alone in your feelings.

Emotions are complicated.

You can feel sad in a room full of one hundred other people and not notice that one of them has probably felt the same way you feel now.

I knew there were millions of other people who have experienced a loved one having cancer, but it was hard for me to comprehend that other people have been through that experience. I guess we as humans are so individualistic that we don’t realize how alike we all are. I don’t want to get philosophical here, but getting encouraging comments from people who have been through that same situation got me through it.

I never thought I would’ve had the strength to help out my mom if it wasn’t for other people telling me that they hear me and they relate.

Whenever you feel alone in your emotions, just know there are seven billion people in the world. I guarantee you that someone relates to your pain.

Relating to someone is one of the best ways to relieve the trauma.

Final Thought

My mom is finally cancer-free and I’m over the moon.

I know there are other people who aren’t as lucky as she is. My condolences go out to anyone’s family who has lost a loved one because of cancer. I used to be oblivious to it because I couldn’t imagine being put in that situation.

Now that I’ve been in it, my outlook has changed.

Always chase your dreams no matter how outlandish they are, make sure to preserve your body to have a long career, and you are never alone in your feelings.

Remember that and I promise things will get better.

Thank you to everyone who supported me during this difficult time.

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