My first guest blogger is Heather, who is a 44-year old mother to a quirky 7-year old, Lily. When Lily was just a few months old, Heather received a diagnosis that she feared would leave her family forever changed. But that didn't stop her...she fought to be here today for her little girl. Heather is a true survivor! Read her touching story here...
Living through
Mesothelioma for Lily
There is a time in everyone's life that you find yourself depending on someone. There are times when the only way for you to successfully get through a painful situation is with the help of family and loved ones. For me, that time was when I was 36 and had just given birth to my daughter on August 4th, 2005. We were all immediately surrounded by our loved ones, My family, my husband's family, and dozens of our friends came to greet little Lilly and wish us all well. Things were going wonderfully and we were utterly unprepared for what would happen in the days ahead.
I returned to work full time and things immediately started going south. I was losing weight at an incredible rate, five to seven pounds a week. I had no energy, tired and breathless throughout the day. It could have easily been passed off as the everyday complications of being a new mom, but I was convinced something was wrong and visited my doctor. After the endless battery of tests we had an answer.
November 21st, 2005 I was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Only three and a half months after the birth of my daughter, I found out I had cancer in my lungs, a result of asbestos exposure from my childhood. What I had been hoping to be simply the negative effects of motherhood, were actually the symptoms of mesothelioma.
Lily was the first thing I thought about. I had been told that without treatment, in just over a year, fifteen months, I would be dead. I thought of my daughter, looked at my husband and imagined them surviving without me. I resolved to do whatever I had to, to save my life and stay in theirs.
Since the prognosis was so poor, we decided to pursue the most drastic solution we were given. I flew to Boston with my husband and on February 2nd, 2006 I received a treatment called an extrapleural pneumonectomy. One of the best mesothelioma doctors in the world removed my left lung. I spent 18 days in the hospital, then two months of recovery prior to the chemotherapy regimen, then radiation. All while trying to take care of my daughter and be the best new mom possible.
When I went to Boston, my mother took Lily with her to South Dakota, my childhood home. My parents went from Lily's grandparents, to raising her. There were benefits to this, as my parents were quickly overwhelmed by the outpouring of friends and help. Some young ladies that I had once babysat were now, married with their own children, volunteering to take care of Lily while my parents worked their full time jobs. People I looked up to as a child covered my family with love and support. Out in Boston, I made friends among the amazing people who were fighting the same battle I was. Without all of these people we would not have survived day to day.
Without me, my baby began eating food, not only bottles, and found her own mobility, scooting and rolling about the house. I knew these things only through grainy black and white photographs that my mother emailed to my husband who printed them off on the community printer for me. The nurses made the rounds, looking for new pictures of lily to ooh and ahh over. I did too, though it was difficult not to cry. Lily was my reason for being there. Lily was what made me fight so hard to live. I'm so blessed that she was in such good hands while I did.
The bond between Lily and her grandparents runs deep, regardless of the time and distance between visits.
We embrace life as a family now, knowing how fragile it all is. We weren't promised that anything was going to come easy, and we've done the best we can.
My advice to others: Take on everything life can give you. Cancer was a strange experience, the bad bringing out so much good. For how desperate my diagnosis was, so much good came from it, and I'm thankful for that.
There is a time in everyone's life that you find yourself depending on someone. There are times when the only way for you to successfully get through a painful situation is with the help of family and loved ones. For me, that time was when I was 36 and had just given birth to my daughter on August 4th, 2005. We were all immediately surrounded by our loved ones, My family, my husband's family, and dozens of our friends came to greet little Lilly and wish us all well. Things were going wonderfully and we were utterly unprepared for what would happen in the days ahead.
I returned to work full time and things immediately started going south. I was losing weight at an incredible rate, five to seven pounds a week. I had no energy, tired and breathless throughout the day. It could have easily been passed off as the everyday complications of being a new mom, but I was convinced something was wrong and visited my doctor. After the endless battery of tests we had an answer.
November 21st, 2005 I was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Only three and a half months after the birth of my daughter, I found out I had cancer in my lungs, a result of asbestos exposure from my childhood. What I had been hoping to be simply the negative effects of motherhood, were actually the symptoms of mesothelioma.
Lily was the first thing I thought about. I had been told that without treatment, in just over a year, fifteen months, I would be dead. I thought of my daughter, looked at my husband and imagined them surviving without me. I resolved to do whatever I had to, to save my life and stay in theirs.
Since the prognosis was so poor, we decided to pursue the most drastic solution we were given. I flew to Boston with my husband and on February 2nd, 2006 I received a treatment called an extrapleural pneumonectomy. One of the best mesothelioma doctors in the world removed my left lung. I spent 18 days in the hospital, then two months of recovery prior to the chemotherapy regimen, then radiation. All while trying to take care of my daughter and be the best new mom possible.
When I went to Boston, my mother took Lily with her to South Dakota, my childhood home. My parents went from Lily's grandparents, to raising her. There were benefits to this, as my parents were quickly overwhelmed by the outpouring of friends and help. Some young ladies that I had once babysat were now, married with their own children, volunteering to take care of Lily while my parents worked their full time jobs. People I looked up to as a child covered my family with love and support. Out in Boston, I made friends among the amazing people who were fighting the same battle I was. Without all of these people we would not have survived day to day.
Without me, my baby began eating food, not only bottles, and found her own mobility, scooting and rolling about the house. I knew these things only through grainy black and white photographs that my mother emailed to my husband who printed them off on the community printer for me. The nurses made the rounds, looking for new pictures of lily to ooh and ahh over. I did too, though it was difficult not to cry. Lily was my reason for being there. Lily was what made me fight so hard to live. I'm so blessed that she was in such good hands while I did.
The bond between Lily and her grandparents runs deep, regardless of the time and distance between visits.
We embrace life as a family now, knowing how fragile it all is. We weren't promised that anything was going to come easy, and we've done the best we can.
My advice to others: Take on everything life can give you. Cancer was a strange experience, the bad bringing out so much good. For how desperate my diagnosis was, so much good came from it, and I'm thankful for that.
Read more about Heather and her story at: http://www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather/
