Personal Narrative: My Life After Cancer

Second semester of my sophomore year is when my life got flipped around. It was the middle of the season for basketball when I was struck by a knee on my shoulder at practice. I didn 't think much about it at the time, all I knew was that I was in pain. I was a starting post on JV as well as a full time varsity player. The last thing I needed was to get injured when my basketball career was just getting started.That day started a winding road that has not found an end even to this day. Doctors appointments after doctors appointments, they just couldn 't find what was wrong with my shoulder. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. Injection after injection, just trying to find a cure for my pain, but nothing seemed to be

When I was seven years old my great-grandma was dying, and she was in a lot of pain. A couple years ago she caught this disease that we had no idea about, so we went online and read all about it. It turned out that her cancer came back, however, my family thought that it could go away since it disappeared last time. The next week it got worse, so we took her to the doctors. The doctors said that she couldn 't get rid of her cancer, and that she didn 't have a lot if time to live. My mother went on social media to see what kinds of food would help ease her pain. Yes some things did not work out, but a few did. Turned out she lived for a few more years when she wasn 't supposed to. That is a great blessing that the internet has provided for me.

I was constantly depressed, and crying myself to sleep knowing that I didn’t say goodbye to her, that she wouldn’t be there for my quinceanera. My grandmother was the person that influenced my parents into coming to America, and finding a future for me, a better education, and opportunities, things I would never achieve in Cuba. My mom would always tell me to study hard, and keep moving forward because my grandmother would always ask about me and how i’m doing in school, as well as to keep pursuing my dreams. At school I was able to focus on my work with the help of my friends. They were there by my side, and many of them understood my pain because they have once lost a grandparent in their life before, they would tell me that the pain would pass by soon, and that life keeps going. At school I piled myself with work from classes I knew I would get distracted I was able to forget my pain. With my grandmother’s passing I saw my future in helping others, and working on the medical field as a nurse. I know you can’t save everyone, but I would like to help them, and make their pain go away, or at least treat them until their final days. I have volunteered at the Food Bank, where I package rice to send to people around the world are food insecure. I am excited for the future, and I know I have an angel up there looking down upon me and guiding me through

Everybody has challenges, everyone has some obstacles in their life. Some are bad, some are little and then there's some like Cancer. I can provide some devastating examples of a life obstacle like cancer.

My childhood and my innocence came crashing down when my dad told me the worst sentence that I’ve ever heard in my life, “Your mom has cancer”. There is nothing, no amount of mental or physical pain you can inflict me with, that could compare to what I felt in that moment. My dad gave us the news after my mom was taken to the hospital in the middle night because she could not breathe. So while we were hoping for her to breathe safely, we get hit with an even worse situation.

In early August of 2009, I embarked on a long drive from the beautiful state of Virginia

“Let me see your sticks.” Through barred vision and with borrowed gloves I present my stick for inspection, it’s once flourescent tape now caked with dirt. All eyes are present on the midfield, impatiently waiting for the ref to signal the start of both teams’ playoff run. I look to my other midfielders, jockeying for position, waiting to scoop up the ball that pops out from the faceoff. For now, I’m alone. At the beginning of spring I would have been just another spectator on the sidelines, refilling water bottles for the varsity players, waiting for another practice to prove my worth to the team. Now? I’m taking faceoffs at center field. The ref signals for the faceoff men to get into position, he lays the ball between us, and then blows the whistle. The game has begun.

When I was a young girl my grandma was my person, my rock, my everything, every time their was a problem I would go to her a she would help me through it. She really helped me when I was six and my parents informed me that they were going to get a divorced, at that age I didn’t understand why I thought that everything was great in our family. During this time my grandma took care of me greatly and made sure I was loved and cared for. I can remember every part of when she died. The last time I saw her was at the hospital when I walked into the room to see her I knew in my own way that she was ready to go; this did not mean I

It is January of 2005, and I am on my way to Columbus for my first chemotherapy. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in October of last year. My two sons, Jeff and Jason are coming along with me. Jeff is driving, Jason is in the passenger seat and I 'm in the back seat of Jeff’s 2002 GMC Envoy. I glance out the window and watch as we pass the Shoe. It was chilly and the winds were powerful on this winter day, snow was covering the trees and the ground, it was a beautiful sight of a winter wonderland. We are on our way to the James Center, where I 'm receiving my treatment.

I am sure you have heard that my father, Jerry Geyer has passed away from pancreatic cancer. During the two months that I lived with my parents to help take care of him, we were blessed to be able to have many wonderful conversations. He had told me of a lot of things that he had wanted to do, but simply ran out of time.

Quickly scurrying through the lobby with our hearts creating an earthquake , Hannah, Evan, and I had finally reached our destination, Room 307 of the Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. As we entered the room, Rosie lie faintly upon the stark white hospital bed which would be her home for the next seven months. She was diagnosed with stage three leukemia the summer of her freshman year.

One day, on the way home from school my mother gently informed us that she had cancer. It was shocking but at that age and time in my life, it just didn’t seem to sink in that my mom would pass away. I was extremely close with my mother. I used to spend every moment I could to be in her presence. When the rest of the family went on camping trips, I would stay with my mom. I loved and adored her with all my heart.

October 4, 2007. I was in school, just like every other day and the office gets a call from my mom saying that I need to leave. At the time, I was confused because my mom would never just pull me out of school unless it was an emergency. I got to the car and she told me that we are going to the hospital, grandma is not doing good. Hearing those words come out of her mouth was heart-wrenching. I just saw her that morning and she was not the best, but she was making it. My grandma and grandpa were supposed to leave that day to head back to Iowa, but she must not have been doing good to leave yet. We got there and I walked in and I saw my grandpa waiting for us. My mom and grandpa told us that we were supposed to stay in the lobby while they go back to see her. We waited and waited until finally they came back. I asked when can I see her and my mom said you do not want to see her like this. She had tears in her eyes; you could tell she was ready to breakdown. I was like I do not care I want to see her. She went back to the room and not even three minutes passed by and my mom and grandpa came out crying saying she was gone. It happened that fast. The pain was like a knife was stabbed in my back and every time I would think about her, it would just go in farther. I did not, not even for a second believe that. I did not even get to say goodbye. I did not even get to talk to her one last time. Not even to give her a hug. I wanted her to know I was there with her. Why did it have to happen to her? Out of all people, it had to happen to my grandma. She did not deserve that. I do not remember anything after that. I remember crying in the hospital, blaming my mom for not letting me see her one last time, then that was

December 26th, 2008 was the day this world lost one of the most inspiring, radiant and influential people to ever live. My precious aunt’s cause of death was one many are familiar with: cancer. I distinctly remember the deafening silence following the news, the seemingly unbearable pain while trying to grasp the concept, but also the overwhelming love and support that flooded inform family, friends, and the community. This situation paves the way to answer what sort of problem I would like to solve one day. I would love to be able to aid in the continuous search of a cure for cancer. As a seventeen-year-old lacking any sort of degree that could make me an ideal candidate for this sort of goal, curing cancer may seem a little farfetched. However,

I watched my mother fade away slowly as she was battling pancreatic cancer. I looked after her everyday as best as I could; however, the feeling of my eventual solitude was unbearable.The thought of my mother’s imminent demise made me feel like my heart was being continuously stabbed. Watching my mother suffer was one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through. After her passing; something changed in me, darkness filled where love once was. I always knew deep down, that my mum was not going to make it; however, knowing this did not make it any easier.