I had no plans of sharing this with the world on my blog but after everything God has done in our lives, I thought it was a great way to glorify Him. I also hope that my story helps others heal from past experiences in their lives.
My Story
I grew up in a wonderfully loving family. My dad was a Police Officer in Sterling
Heights and my mom quit her job to stay home and raise my sister and I. My parents worked hard to provide a
comfortable life for us and to raise us with faith and morals. I was a typical kid, involved in after school
activities, church events and of course I spent a lot of time fighting with my
older sister, Kathy!
In May of 1988, when I was a mere 8 years old, my life
changed forever. My dad was diagnosed with Embroynal Cell Carcinoma, or in
other words, he had cancer. I remember my parents holding a family meeting to
tell my sister and I about my dad’s cancer.
My parents were very optimistic about his diagnosis and explained that
my dad had testicular cancer and would need surgery. The surgeon would need to
remove my dad’s entire testicle but he would recover fully. Being only 8 years
old, I had no idea what any of this meant.
I don’t remember being scared or worried about my dad. I had never heard
the word “cancer” before so I didn’t have any clue as to what a frightening
word it was. In June of 1988 my dad had his left testicle removed and life went
back to normal.
Three years later in May of 1991, my parents held another family meeting. This time my parents weren’t as optimistic. My dad’s cancer had now spread to his Retroperitoneal Lymph nodes and the prognosis wasn’t nearly as good. They tried to explain that there is treatment for the cancer but it is risky. My mom told us that he would be receiving chemotherapy which would attack the cancer cells and kill them but at the same time my dad would become very weak and lose his hair. She also told us that there was a risk with the chemotherapy. The risk was that the chemotherapy could act like a poison in my dad’s body and take his life instead of the cancer. I remember my sister sobbing as she heard the news. I sat quietly taking it all in, not quite understanding what it all meant. I understood that my dad was sick but I was thinking he had something like the flu. I never fathomed that he was facing death.
Almost immediately my Dad began in intense regimen of chemotherapy. In the event that you have never known someone that has had chemotherapy, I will try to explain what our days, weeks and months were like.
On day one my Dad went to the hospital outpatient facility where he received the chemo through an IV. He started the week off laughing and joking with everyone, but as the week wore on, he became weaker and weaker. On day two, my Dad returned to the hospital outpatient facility for his second dose of chemo again administered through an IV. Day three was a day off from treatment so that my Dad could regain some energy and prepare his body for day four.
On day four, my Dad was admitted to the hospital and received cisplatin, the most dangerous of the chemotherapy drugs in his regimen. Because cisplatin is an irritant and causes inflammation to the vein, my dad had burns on his arms where the IV’s were placed. The drug is actually a poison, so besides the extreme nausea and vomiting that lasted almost a week, he had a constant metallic taste in his mouth, loss of appetite, and lost all of his hair. He also suffered more serious side effects - peripheral neuropathy which is numbness and tingling of the extremities. He said that it felt like his feet were always “asleep” and high frequency hearing loss.
By the end of the 4th day, my Dad would become very quiet and begin looking very gray. After spending two days in the hospital receiving cisplatin, my Mom brought my Dad home where he spent the next 4 – 5 days in bed trying to regain some strength. I remember feeding my Dad with plastic utensils to help ease the metallic taste. One time my Mom decided that some sun would be good for my Dad. She carried him outside and let him rest in the warmth of the sun while she did some work inside. The only problem was that my Mom lost tract of the time he was outside and my dad was too weak to come back inside by himself! When my Mom realized how much time had passed, poor Dad was sunburned and dehydrated. (We laugh as we tell this story today!)
About two weeks after coming home from the hospital, my Dad
would start feeling better and try to do little things around the house. I
remember my dad desperately trying to mow the lawn. We would have to start the
lawn mower for him and then he would cut one strip of grass and then sit on the
ground to regain strength in order to cut another strip of grass. It was heart
wrenching to watch but I think he needed to feel like he was contributing to
the family. My Dad would have one more day of feeling semi-decent and then he
would be back in the hospital to start the cycle over again.
Because of the chemotherapy my dad had to take a leave from work which in turn reduced his pay to 60%. My mom went back to work to help supplement the loss of income and my sister and I were left in charge of taking care of my dad. We learned quickly how to become little nurses for my dad. We would make his meals, track his medication and give him wet cloths when he was vomiting. My sister, Kathy and I spent the summer of 1991 taking care of my dad. I remember our friends coming over to ask if we could play, but we had to tell them no because our dad was sick and we couldn’t leave him alone. However we never once felt sorry for ourselves. We understood that my mom now had the burden of bringing home extra income and taking care of the family while being strong for everyone. Kathy and I grew closer to each other as we sat on the front porch watching the world go by. We would entertain ourselves by making up little stories about what each of the neighbors was doing and conversations they were having. I truly believe this is what made us so close as sisters!
Things weren’t improving with my dad. He was getting sicker
and weaker with no end in sight. My grandparents, aunts and uncles were
becoming very concerned that my Dad was going to die. I remember overhearing them talk about his funeral. I was with my mom when she told my
grandparents the bad news about my dad’s declining health. I distinctly
remember my grandfather sobbing and telling God to give him my dad’s cancer so
that my dad could live. I sincerely believe in the scripture Proverbs 18:21
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue:” and I truly believe that my
grandfather’s words are what led to the events following. My dad was very sick
and I cannot put into words how difficult it was watching him suffer.
I don’t remember how much time had passed because life was a blur. Slowly we began seeing signs that the chemotherapy was working at killing the cancer cells. In September of 1991, God answered our prayers and healed my dad of all of his cancer. It was a complete miracle that my dad was healed because just a short time earlier we were told that he only had a 50% chance of surviving. My parents threw a party for all of the friends, family, nurses and doctors to thank them for all of their love and support during our difficult summer. Things became normal again as my dad went back to work and my sister and I started back to school.
Just when we thought life was normal again, our family was
hit with another stumbling block. In 1992 my grandfather was diagnosed with
bladder cancer. His conversation with God about taking my dad’s cancer echoed
in our minds. We couldn’t believe that another member of our family was
diagnosed with cancer. My grandpa had surgery to remove the tumor but the
doctor was not able to get all of the cancer cells. My grandpa then underwent
radiation therapy to kill the remainder of the cells. The radiation wasn’t
working and my grandpa was giving up the fight to survive. I can’t imagine how
difficult it was for my dad to watch his father succumbing to the cancer. We
tried to encourage him to keep up the fight but he didn’t have the strength
left for the battle. On Thanksgiving morning in 1995, my grandmother found that
my grandpa had passed away overnight. We
thanked God for relieving my grandpa of his suffering but we were heartbroken
that we had to go on living without his Saturday morning pancakes, endless card
games and funny golf stories.Life went on but my grandma became completely depressed living without my grandpa. They were high school sweethearts and soul mates. Grandma was lost without grandpa. In 1996 my grandma was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Grandma was too old and fragile to have surgery or undergo treatments for the cancer so we kept her as comfortable as possible in her final days. I watched as my dad took care of his mom and I realized that life had come full circle. In May of 1998, grandma went to be with her love in heaven. We rejoiced as she was reunited with grandpa but mourned the loss of another life to cancer.
Once again life went on. In 1999 I was a senior in high
school and preparing to go to college. I had high goals and aspirations to
study Elementary Education at Oakland University. Everything in my future was looking bright!
That was when my family was again blindsided by another diagnosis of cancer.
This time it was my mom. She was diagnosed with transitional carcinoma of the
bladder and needed surgery to remove the tumors that grew within her. I was now
old enough to understand what cancer was and its devastating effects on a
family. I’ll admit that I was scared to
watch another member of my family fight for their life. My mom was strong and
determined that she was going to survive and she did. She had her surgery and
it was a success! The doctor was able to get all of the cancer cells and she
had a clean bill of health.
But in June 2004, my mom started having symptoms that
resembled the ones that she had when she was first diagnosed with bladder
cancer. She immediately went back to the doctor and found that there were more
masses in her bladder that needed to be removed. Once again my mom had surgery
to remove the cells. Fortunately, these cells were pre-cancerous, not
malignant. But unfortunately, in April 2006 more masses were found in her bladder and required more surgery. It was like walking on egg shells wondering if
and when another tumor was going to form and would they catch the pre-cancerous
cells in time before they became malignant.
It has been almost six years since my Mom’s last surgery so her doctor
feels confident that she is cured.
But, while all of this was going on, in 2001 my sister,
Kathy, had just finished Air Force Pilot training in Albuquerque, New Mexico
and was living the life she had dreamt of.
She had the coolest job of being the pilot of the Pave Hawk and it was
her job to do search and rescue missions. Then one day Kathy came down with flu
like symptoms and a sore throat. She finally went to the doctor and was
prescribed medication for her symptoms. Kathy was very surprised that the
medication didn’t help at all so she went back to the doctor. Time and time
again she was diagnosed with different flu related viruses and sent home. Then
one morning, Kathy woke up and found a large lump in her throat. She assumed it
was just swollen lymph nodes from being so sick with the flu but she decided to
make a doctor’s appointment anyway. Kathy’s doctor examined the lump and sent
her out for additional testing. Our family’s worst fears came true when my
sister was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. How could my sister have cancer? She
was only 25 and in perfect health otherwise!! I couldn’t believe this was
happening again! How could cancer strike another person in my family? I had so many questions and concerns for my
sister. I was worried about my sister because she was living all alone in New
Mexico and I couldn’t be there to hold her.
I was also secretly worried about myself. I felt like a ticking time
bomb. Every single person in my family fought their battle with cancer and I
wondered when it would be my turn.
Kathy was scheduled to have surgery to remove her entire
thyroid. My mom flew out to New Mexico to take care of my sister while she was
recovering from her surgery. We were so thankful for my sister’s boyfriend
Thomas. He sat by Kathy’s side and took care of her the entire time she was recovering.
I know that Thomas made it easier for my mom to leave and return back to
Michigan because we all knew that Kathy was in good hands. I never knew how
important a thyroid was until my sister had hers removed. She was immediately
put on thyroid replacement therapy but struggled for a while to find the
correct dosing. The poor thing had to endure major mood swings, lack of
appetite and rapid weight loss for years until her doctors were able to finally
work out the kinks in her medication. She had such little energy that she
required multiple naps a day which made holding down a full time job very
difficult. The diagnosis of cancer forced the Air Force to ground my sister
from flying and her dreams of being an Air Force Pilot vanished. She was
reassigned to work an office job and was miserable.
2002 brought so much joy to our family! I was preparing to
graduate from college with my degree in Elementary Education. My sister and I
were both engaged and planning weddings! We went wedding gown shopping together
and had a blast thinking about what the future held.
In January of 2003, my sister married Thomas on the island
of St Thomas USVI. It was a beautiful wedding and we were so happy to have
Thomas join our family. It surprised me that my sister still was suffering from
the effects of her cancer treatments. I remember during their wedding
reception, Kathy leaned over to me a whispered that she didn’t feel good and
needed to go to bed. It broke my heart that she couldn’t even enjoy her wedding
day. Thomas was very understanding and excused himself from his guests as he
took his new wife back to the hotel for some much needed rest.
A few short months
later in the spring of 2003, my sister found some strange lumps in her jaw.
Thomas was on an assignment overseas when the lumps in her jaw were diagnosed
as cancerous tumors. Kathy’s doctor
suggested a treatment that was composed of radioactive iodine. This treatment was the best option for the
type of cancer my sister had. The only problem was that it is radioactive which
in turn would make my sister radioactive. We would joke that she would actually
glow in the dark but this treatment was no laughing matter. After her
treatments, Kathy would be secluded because the amount of iodine in her body
would be dangerous for anyone else to come in contact with. My poor sister had
to endure the devastating side effects of the cancer treatments and then was
forced to care for herself afterwards. We felt helpless as a family but my
sister was strong and didn’t once complain about her circumstances. Kathy had
to receive multiple treatments throughout the year but it proved to be
beneficial. Kathy has to have yearly body scans but the doctors are unable to
find any trace of cancer left in her body.
Shortly after my sister’s cancer treatments her husband,
Thomas was injured while serving with the US Air Force in Iraq. Thomas was a
pilot and flew covert operations when a rocket propelled grenade exploded in
his cockpit, killing his co-pilot and severely injuring his navigator. Thomas’s
eyes were burned shut and he had multiple injuries from the shrapnel. In a situation that would cause most pilots to
crash uncontrollably, he was able to control his crash and saved the lives of
the rest of the crew. Once on the ground, Thomas was forced to fight for his
life against the Iraqis. He was then
rescued by another helicopter in his squadron and he was flown to Germany to recover.
It seemed like it took years for Thomas to return to the United States. Thomas
has completely healed from his injuries and is still serving our country proud.
I cannot thank Thomas enough for his continued service.
For a long time I worried that I would have the dreaded
Brook family curse of cancer. I was convinced that somehow my dreams of being a
mother and wife would disappear with the diagnosis of cancer. Well meaning
friends told me that I needed to have yearly body scans to detect any cancerous
cells before it was too late. I never took their advice. Instead I put my faith
in God and let Him be in control of my life. I trust that He has a plan for me
and that He will never leave me or forsake me. He has taken my worry, my pain
and my fear and has given me a beautiful life.
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