No Guarantees with Childhood Cancer
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No Guarantees with Childhood Cancer
Part 1
By Patricia Beckwith
Raising a healthy and happy family was the most important objective in our lives. We seemed to be succeeding with four daughters between the ages of eight and twelve. Life was good.
Then without warning our oldest daughter, Alisa developed some symptoms that, at first, seemed minor. But as the days passed and she didn’t respond to the antibiotics, we knew we were looking at a serious health problem. We were lucky to have good doctors. Not everyone is as fortunate. I learned from other families that you couldn’t let the medical community send you away without a definitive diagnosis. Push until you get an answer. Remember – this is your child.
After making several visits to the doctor’s office, we were referred to another city to a pediatrician. After a couple of days of testing, the doctor called us into his office. Little did we know that we would hear the words, “Your daughter has cancer!” From that moment on our lives changed forever. Our daughter had Hodgkin’s Disease.
Alisa was sent to Boston to get the best care. This was a choice that we felt was in our best interest. Boston would have all the latest treatments. Everything that I read about Hodgkin’s Disease described it as a fatal disease.
It was a daunting task trying to keep the family going. Everyone was feeling the effects of Alisa’s illness. Once your family starts this journey, there is no turning back. It is a roller coaster ride at it’s worst. Alisa was challenged physically and the other children were challenged emotionally. We tried our best to maintain normalcy. The one important lesson that we learned right away was to be honest with everyone. Alisa would get any information from the doctors as soon as we did. We were also honest with her sisters. I told them to try not to worry excessively - - if things weren’t going well we would tell them. Otherwise life went on as usual.
This was the beginning of a whole different way of life. Hospitals became the home base for Alisa and me. Gerry, my husband, stayed home with the other three girls and tried to keep things going as usual. It was hard when we were apart but we made use of and treasured every minute we had together as a family unit.
Over the next year we dealt with radiation, surgery, chemotherapy and relapse. In Part II of No Guarantees with Childhood Cancer I will discuss radiation.
About the author:
http://www.Knowledge-Download.com/Childhood-Cancer-No-Guarantees/
This is the site of my e-book: Childhood Cancer No Guarantees
Patricia A. Beckwith