Chapter 1. Cancer Mum

I have this one vivid memory of the day I was taken to the hospital at the age of 7. My uncle held my small hand with an anxious face. I wasn’t aware of what was going on and I was confused, however, I knew there was a reason as to why I was there. I remember standing in the hallway of a cold, dark hospital, the lights flickered and footsteps echoed. I walked past a window of a small room and saw my mum lying in a hospital bed with family and doctors by her side. My mum looked exhausted and fragile as I stared through the window. My uncle led me into the room and my mum suddenly smiled at me trying to hide her true expressions. I watched my mum struggling to stay positive and I walked back to the hallway and cried. My uncle came to me, rubbing my back as tears ran down my face and told me over and over that everything was going to be okay.

Things began to get even more serious and complicated when my mum started chemotherapy and then was told she was pregnant. She was told only one would survive and she had to make a choice to save her or to save my brother. My mum, being the strong and unselfish person she is, put my brother before herself and pushed herself through the pregnancy stopping chemotherapy and then continuing after my brother was born. Weeks went by and I remember constantly thinking about what I would do without my mum, how I would live without her and soon later I watched my mum’s beautiful, black, curly, long hair fall out. The hair that my mum absolutely adored fell out and it was heartbreaking to see her lose a piece of her that she identified with. My mum wore scarves over her head and she seemed different, she had become stronger due to the troubles that life threw at her.

My beautiful brother was a miracle and was born healthy. Not so long after I decided to shave my long, brown, wavy hair to support my mum. I remember my hair falling in chunks to the floor as the cold blade went against my scalp. I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize myself, it was refreshing and hard to take in but it reminded me that my mum was facing a difficult battle. The day I shaved my hair and went to visit mum she raged and was very angry when she saw me almost bald. At first, I didn’t understand why she was upset but she then cried and gave me the biggest hug and told me just to rock the hairstyle like she does. I know my mum appreciated what I did and I will never regret it.

My mum is the strongest woman I know and she has done and still does so much to provide for my siblings and I. She loves us wholeheartedly and is the most selfless person I know. I love her with all my heart for being the strong fighter she is and for being a mum I couldn’t wish more of.