VIII. Mom's Cancer

One morning, when I was 16, I was being sassy to my mother.  I don't remember the circumstances at all, just that I was being disrespectful for some reason.  I don't even remember her reaction, but I remember my dad's reaction.

He grabbed me by the shoulders, and told me that I should never treat my mother that way.  Then he broke the news to me that she had cancer.

I don't think I even knew it was a concern.  I found out later that she had been to a doctor for another reason, and the doctor somehow noticed a lump on her throat.  The doctor ordered a biopsy, and it came back positive for thyroid cancer.

Thyroid is the slowest-growing, most treatable cancer.  My mom had Stage 4 cancer; Stage 5 is usually terminal.  This meant that she likely had the cancer most of her life.

Of course, I was experiencing this process as a teenager.  So I was much more concerned about myself and what it would mean to me, than about my mother and what she was going through.  Or even my dad, what he was going through, and what it meant to him.

Initially, the treatment would mean surgery.  For some reason, on the day of the surgery, my siblings were not home.  The younger children probably were with babysitters.  I think maybe my brother and I had jobs, and we worked that day.  But I was home earlier than Dallon, and I remember just waiting around to get the phone call about how the surgery went.

Once the surgeon began the operation, he discovered that the cancer was more extensive than he had guessed.  Some of the tumors were wrapped around a nerve to one of her vocal cords.  She would lose her voice.

Soon after, when my mom was in recovery, my dad took me to visit her.  On the way to the hospital, he tried to prepare me for what I would see, and he also tried to prepare me that she might die.  But my mom was beautiful!  She had tubes attached everywhere, but I was so happy to see her.

She told me later that when she was in the ICU, she had a scary experience.  Somehow the tube in her throat had failed to drain her throat properly.  She began to choke, and she could not reach the call button.  She began to panic, so she said a prayer in her mind.  The words came to her mind:

Night gathers round my soul
Fearful, I cry to Thee,
Come to mine aid, O Lord!
Haste Thee, Lord, haste to help me!

Hear my cry, hear my cry
Save me, Lord in Thy mercy;
Hear my cry, hear my cry!
Come and save me, O Lord!
(O Divine Redeemer, Charles Gounod)

My mother was a singer with a beautiful voice.  Because the operation potentially could take her voice, she had sung this song the night before the operation.  She also received a priesthood blessing.

Miraculously, God caused a nurse to notice my mom's distress, and she was able to fix the problem so my mom could breathe again.

When she was recovered enough, she began going through radiation treatment.  Her throat was literally cooked, so that it was difficult for her to swallow.  She started drinking Ensure (like Slimfast) to gain weight.

I got my driver's license soon after, so that I could occasionally drive her to her radiation treatments.

My mom eventually made a full recovery (with some lasting side-effects) and has been in remission for over 14 years.

It wasn't long after her recovery that she began to take voice therapy lessons at Vanderbilt University.  Through her hard work, she was able to relearn the notes in her voice.  Because one vocal cord is paralyzed, the other compensates by coming over to meet the other.  She has a very quiet, airy voice because the vocal cords never completely close together.  My mother is such an inspiration.  She even recently joined a choir!

My mom worked so hard to beat the cancer because she knew that she still had important things to do with her life, especially to raise her family.

I am so grateful that she is still around.  I still need her.  I can't imagine my life without her.

Thanks and praise be to God for saving her!