What Happens in the Beginning?
Hearing a diagnosis of cancer will forever alter your future. But what happens initially?
Shortly after my daughter, Emily, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, at just 7 months old, life became a whirlwind. This shouldn’t have been surprising. But, yet, it was.
Before; before I heard the words, “Your daughter has a brain tumor,” I was a caring, thoughtful individual. I was sympathetic to people who had a cancer diagnosis. But I never understood wholly what that diagnosis meant. I underestimated the seismic shift in the universe that occurs when you hear a diagnosis of cancer.
I had to wrap my head around the idea that my daughter, my sweet, innocent daughter, had to endure brain surgeries and then receive toxic medications for months, and years, at a time. And then I had to wrap my head around the idea that this invasive, intensive treatment might not even work.
I had to face my partner, who was breaking down in his own way, and re-learn how to communicate with him. Two broken souls facing a grim reality of the unknown.
I had to let work know that I wouldn’t be coming back into the office and I didn’t know when I could return. Then I hoped and prayed that my supervisors and my team would understand and let me come back to work as…
