Recently on a cancer mom's Facebook page there was a discussion about getting pregnant and/or having little babies while your child is on chemo treatment.Ashlyn, my youngest of two children, was 4 months old when Emma was diagnosed. It was very hard. There were long weeks I had to spend apart from my growing baby. In fact, when she turned 1, I remember crying because I felt I had missed her whole infancy. We were apart on her first birthday, by the way.
There was another family in Memphis while we were there in the beginning. The mother had been pregnant when her child was diagnosed. She gave birth while in Memphis, and a family member had to come get the baby and take it home to care for it. The mother said she hadn't seen her new baby since it was something like three days old.
There is so much pain and hardship in pediatric cancer (and all cancer of course). It would be easy to forget. To push the pain aside, and forget about all the hard and scary things a cancer-kid parent goes through. But I don't want to forget. I want to remember, and to keep the memories and feelings fresh so that I can best know how to help others who are hurting.
So if I overburden some with my talk of hardship; of cancer; of pain, I'm truly sorry. But I hope I never forget. Please say a prayer for the families of those with cancer today, and I hope you will use your own pain in life to help someone else who is hurting.
Katie, we all need to be reminded that the pain is real and there are people that need our prayers and support everyday. I'm still lifting up Emma and your whole family...
ReplyDeleteI agree - as you'll see in my next post ... ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the prayers, Jennifer! And thank you for stopping by, both Jennifer and Theresa :)
ReplyDeleteOh, Katie, my eyes are watering again. You amaze me. You are seriously one of the strongest people I know. And you are also one of the most caring people, too. I'll be saying a prayer as soon as I finish typing this. And seriously, Katie, God bless you.
ReplyDeleteAww, Kelly. You're too sweet. A lot of people are strong, just not everyone gets a chance to show it in such a public way. I'm such a big mouth I share myself with everyone! LOL
DeleteHi Katie, Cancer is horrible. My mom,grandmother,grandfather, uncle and brother all died of cancer. My Aunt has survived breast cancer twice.
ReplyDeleteIt is scary thinking about it. But you are right, we need to reflect on our trauma so we can move on to healing and then inturn help others. In the future I will share about my brother and the blessings he brought to me, my family the last two weeks of his life.
Keep sharing! Your are a blessing.
It is only through pain we've gone through (no matter the degrees) that allows us to be able to talk about certain topics in authentic/honest voices. And it is only through this that makes us reach out to those who're going through the same. You keep sharing, Katie, and helping those going through the same. I'm sure they'll feel very comforted reading your words.
ReplyDeleteKatie, that is such an unselfish and generous way to look at it. I think you are an amazing mom and person.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Covina. Yes, it is terrible :(
ReplyDeleteClaudine, you are absolutely right. I can talk about pain in a more honest voice, and hopefully help someone.
Thank you, Allyn :)
Great post, Katie.
ReplyDelete