It changes you..

With My mum having cancer I have changed a lot as a person. I've had to be strong for her, it was like I didn't want her to know I was hurting too. I didn't want her to know how worried I really was, I just wanted to be there for her no matter how she felt or if she wanted me there or not!

There have been times when I have been out in public, say at college for example. Some of the girls (some was my friends) have made jokes about bald people, I looked at them and shot them a look. They instantly knew I wasn't happy but clearly didn't know why. That is the point when I think, how stupid are you people?! I have said to people my 'yes, my mum has lost her hair' To that, people don't no how to respond and I have to try to reel it in a bit because I can get pretty mad! The thing is, these people may not of had someone around them/close to them who has lost their hair due to cancer so they don't see it's an offensive thing to say. This is why I understand that they are not 'stupid' they are just not familiar with the situation.

That being said If I was sat in a group and they started talking about a woman's short hair looking stupid I wouldn't join in, by now the group I hang with have realized that it hurts and I'm protective over it because I feel like they are indirectly insulting people who are ill, even if that's not their intention.

When my mum was wearing a bandana, and her and I went out for the first time - only to Tesco.  I felt like I was on guard, I was making sure people wasn't staring at her. I didn't want anyone to make her feel alienated. This was so hard for me because I wanted her to be able to go anywhere and feel like herself, strong and beautiful. Some people would look and look away normally, whereas some people actually stared - full on gorping! Like they have never saw anyone with cancer before. I have said to a few people, 'what are you staring for?' when my mum walked further up the aisle and the people didn't no what to say.

I have been swimming multiple times, for the first time after my mum had chemotherapy she sat at the side of the pool on her own. I wanted to sit with her but she didn't want me too. She had her wig on and she thought that no bald women swim. This was a turning point, because I noticed lots of bald women, I never have noticed them before! I thought, is this just because I didn't pay attention or because I am now aware of it? But good on you women! You have nothing to be ashamed of, your beautiful with or without hair!

I know my mum didn't feel like herself without her hair, I might be in my bedroom and I could hear her cry in her bedroom. I wasn't sure weather I should ignore it because she didn't want me to go in or just go in anyway. Sooo I went in anyway, she would be sat in front of the mirror crying, she didn't feel like herself or know who was looking back at her in the mirror. Of course she looked different to me too, but she is my mum, I would put my arms around her and hold her and tell her shes beautiful. The mirror is only showing her something short term and it will grow back eventually when shes better.

What else can I do? All I can do is be there for her. This has made me stronger, I have supported my little brother a lot too, and he can be a right turd when he wants to! My whole family and I have changed so much over the last year, we have become closer (although me and my sister really clashed because we deal with things differently) but we are stronger and more aware of people and their feelings now more than ever. We all have to accept that other people are not ignorent to it, they are probably just unaware.


If you would like to contact me you can do so here - mum.cancer@hotmail.com
I am happy to reply to you there. Or if you are happy to have your questions/stories put onto this blog along with my response then please state that in your email; if you would like your stories/questions to be on here but left anonymous then please state that in the email by putting *anon at the start or end of the email. I hope to keep this blog going so we can create a community where we can all support each other :)

Samantha

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Long time no see...

I kind of feel like I owe you all an apology for not blogging through this horrible journey...
I gotta admit that this has been harder than I could have ever expected, for so long I felt like I was floating around in the oblivion somewhere. I couldn't come to terms with what was happening around me. I mean I've lost a lot of family members to cancer so the thing that was constantly on my mind was 'I don't want to loose my mum' 'I can't loose my mum'.

People out there are dying every day, but you don't no the paint until it's someone round you or close to you. I could never have expected how hard this was going to be. However I am going to try and start this back up, sharing experiences now it's not so raw. I really want to help other people out there who may want somewhere to go and somewhere to talk to.

Where I am now:
I am 19 now, I have just finished college and oh my! This year has been terrible!
I found it really hard to keep up with all of the work set, I managed to of course. But I reached a point where I was like what the hell, just drop everything, why bother?.. Admittedly this became my attitude towards a lot of things and situations. I only cared about one thing and that was my mum. I mean I was in hospital just over a month ago myself, I became quite ill. I was throwing up blood, had paints in my stomach and the first thing on my mind was that I might have cancer. That's probably not normal, but I guess its been so traumatizing that my mum had cancer that I now fear headaches might be brain cancer, stomach aches might be cancer etc. But that time wasn't just a little pain, it was immense and when I went to the doctors and they sent me to hospital; that was kind of the point where I improved. I'm now eating healthier, doing more active things, and I decided that I wasn't doing as well at college as I could do. I know my potential and I'm smarter than to only just scrape a pass. So I ended up getting the whole years merits and distinction work done in a matter of a few weeks I had left at college - I've finished the other week with a distinction! :D

My mum and I have become pretty close, for ever she had been my rock but this last year It has been quite the opposite way around. I have had to step up, and help to take care of my little brother too. This last year, I can't count the times I have told my mum how beautiful she is and that I love her. My mum and I never really argued, I have never been the argumentative, rebellious teen that a lot of girls can be... Instead I go off and sulk and come out for food... *the shame*
so that was handy through this journey. Because obviously having cancer can deeply effect the person, they can become quite nasty at times. I know that my mum seriously shocked me at points because I couldn't believe what she could actually say to hurt people. That being said, the medication can make them nasty, effect their opinions etc so you should take what they say with a pinch of salt. Don't even argue back with them, what's the point? If you do actually feel hurt by something, walk away and come back when you've calmed down. I can't even imagine what my mum must have felt going through it all, I am collaterally effected, it upsets me that she could be hurting so much, like I want super powers to take it away from her and make sure it never comes back.

Because my mum and I have become so close, at times I have felt like I should break away a little. Like she needs more space. Before my mum was diagnosed with cancer I wanted to go and work in another country for the summer, I had applied to Camp America and had been invited down to London for and interview. This would have meant I wouldn't have got to finish college but to be honest that wasn't bothering me too much and was prepared to leave college. I wanted to go to America and become more independent and live one of my dreams for the summer; I've always been family orientated so I felt I needed to grow up a little. However when my mum was diagnosed I cancelled the interview and backed out of everything, it scared me because if I was in America, I wouldn't be able to to come back to England if something happened to any of my family, I wouldn't be on holiday, I would be working. This is something that really got to me, because I would have been stuck out there, so instead I went back the other way again and I've come to the conclusion, I love my family and I will grow up and everything in my own time there's no rush. At moment I'm happy to just be there for my mum and my family. Cancer had taken over all of our lives and caused many arguments between my siblings and I, between my mum and dad but everybody copes with it differently and that is why people clash at times like this.

If you would like to contact me you can do so here - mum.cancer@hotmail.com
I am happy to reply to you there. Or if you are happy to have your questions/stories put onto this blog along with my response then please state that in your email; if you would like your stories/questions to be on here but left anonymous then please state that in the email by putting *anon at the start or end of the email. I hope to keep this blog going so we can create a community where we can all support each other :)

Samantha

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when people become memories

Before my nan died from cancer, she became very poorly and people needed to look after her that little bit extra. When someone is terminally ill, things can be so hard for them. I remember my nan said some mean things and at the time I was like, that's not nice! and maybe sometimes we may of had little squabbles. I think that's only normal, since we would squabble when she wasn't poorly too. 

Sometimes they may say something, that can really upset you. They may be in a lot of pain, if they are terminally ill they have to face the fact that there is no cure. You can imagine how hard that is, not only for them but for everybody around them too. They may say things because they are finding it hard to come to terms with things, or as a cry for help. At the time of my Nan being ill I was 16/17 and I didn't fully understand this concept. I was learning how to help and deal with it too. What I should of done is take no offence of the mean things she could say, even if they wasn't directed at me, and understand how they feel.

My dad use to drop me off at my Nan's house about 7:20am every morning before college, and I would sit with her, do some crosswords and she use to hide some chocolate away in a little box for us :) I stayed there until about 8:30 and then I'd walk really fast to college. It would take an hour if I walked normally but I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. At lunch break we had 1 hour so I would almost run back to her house so I could spend 15 minutes with her, and after college I'd walk back there again and my dad would come and pick me up when he finished work. 

I was grateful to be able to spend time with my Nan, before she was ill we went to her house every Saturday, and she came to our house once a week too. And during school holidays we saw her more. We spent a lot of time with my Nan before she was ill and we have many happy memories. The thing is, when someone gets ill from cancer, there will be bad memories. But if they do pass away (terminally ill) focus on the happy and the good memories you had. 

I have got a shoe box in my room with things that reminds me of my Nan. Everything in that box tells a story. Whether it be a photo that I can look at and say 'Ohh do you remember this?' or a magazine she bought me and we read together and I remember sitting with her and reading it. A decoration from her Christmas tree she gave me when I was little and I remember spending all of the Christmas's with her. So the box is something I can open up when I want to, I can sit and remember her or I can sit and tell other people stories about her for hours!

The point is, if you can create a way for you to remember them, whether it's a shoe box of memories, you could make a scrapbook, I've made memorial dvd's for multiple people before with lot's of photo's and a song that really fits their situation. There are so many things you can do to help you remember everything. 

I know that I was always afraid of forgetting peoples faces who have passed away, I think that's something most people are scared of but just find your own little way of remembering.

If you have someone who has passed away and you have a way of remembering them, please share it on here. You can leave a comment below. If you have a story to tell of something about this post you'd like to share on here please email me at mum.cancer@hotmail.com

 If you would like your story to me anonymous then please state *anon at the end.

Samantha 

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stop thinking, Just Live

Things can get so hard sometimes. Cancer runs in my family, but if we all lived in fear we wouldn't be living, just surviving. For yourself, you should check for signs of breast cancer regularly, if there's nothing there; don't worry. 

When I was younger and still a little now, I use to be scared of loosing things and people. I have always been aware of cancer from a very young age, knowing people who have had it. Or even to the point of having a hamster die, oh my gosh when my dog died that was awful. Everybody hates loosing things, but you shouldn't fear the future. Appreciate and count what you do have instead of thinking about all the things you don't have. Love your family and friends, and live for today. Smile lots and LIVE.

Samantha 

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first ever post

So I have been deciding whether to open up this blog, whether I wanted to tell, if I really wanted you to hear. The thing is, we all have at least one story to tell, and telling it could help other people and make you feel a little better too. You see, my Nan died from cancer last February - which started off from breast cancer and developed, and now my mum has breast cancer.

When I found out my mum may have it, I took straight to the internet, I wanted to hear other peoples stories, but it was just coming up with chat rooms with people talking publicly. I didn't want that, I wanted to actually read some peoples stories who may be in the same place as me but I couldn't find what I was looking for. It was then that I thought, if I am looking for it, surely there are other people out there looking for it too.

So here I am, I am going to tell you my stories, tell you what's hard, how everything's going, whats nice, basically, I'm going to tell you as much as I can. And what would be really nice, is if you have a story you can tell too, that you could publish it on here to share with other people too. It really does help to hear how other people are dealing with things, survival stories, what you found hard, how you coped with it etc.


I will tell you a little bit now, so you know what I'm writing about in future posts. I am 18, I was 17 when my Nan died. My mum is my best friend, she's always been there for me. When I was bullied all through school, she was always there for me, shes supported me and she's showed me how to care, she is one of the most caring people I know. It was about 2 weeks ago she found a lump in her boob, she went to the doctors and they said she should be checked out in hospital just in case it was cancer, although they said it could just have been a cyst. But it's ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry. She went to hospital to have some tests and had to wait a week for the results. It turned out she did have breast cancer, so she was booked in for an operation.

That is the basics of what has happened, but I will be filling you in on details, how things are going and everything else. Random posts that I may find inspiring, emotional factors, how to cope and all that. We was close to my Nan, so having her get really ill was really hard for her and us. I will tell you as much as I can about as much as I can to give you hope and even if you have a family member or even a friend who has cancer. Because it can change everything, they and you may not no how to deal with things.

I hope this blog will be a help to people who need it, and I encourage you to share anything you can with the community to help other people to. If you would like it to be anonymous, please state *anon at the end.

If would like any advice, would like to ask things please don't hesitate. I'm no expert but I can give my opinion or help out in any way I can. Again if you don't want your name put to it then please state *anon at the end. If you have a story you would like to tell and have featured on this blog then you can also email mum.cancer@hotmail.com and I will get back to you asap.

Samantha 

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