Beating Cancer: My Mother's Day Story

When I was a little girl, I found a “Ladies Home Journal” couples quiz that my parents took together about how well they knew each other. They were each supposed to take the quiz for themselves and answer it again for their partner. As I read through their answers behind the couch in the living room where no one ever went, one question and set of answers haunted me then and stayed with me 35 years. “What is your/your partner’s greatest fear?” Both of my parents said the same thing for my mother: CANCER. I had no idea what cancer was, but it scared me to death since it was my brave mother’s greatest fear.

Since that time, my parents have lived a very healthy, active life. It was almost four years ago, though, when the fateful call came. My mother called to say she had breast cancer in her left breast. As has always been the case with my family, we swarmed upon her and researched the disease and its options alongside her. She is very well-read, and when my brother-in-law gave her a 1000 page book on the history of cancer, she pored through it. She decided that she would go beyond having the lump removed and have a mastectomy. Dad and I were there for the surgery, and when the surgeon came out to say that the cancer had moved into the lymph nodes, we were shocked and terrified. We went in to see her trying so hard to be strong, but she took one look at us and knew that there was more to it than the original lump. I witnessed this courageous woman take this information which she spent a lifetime fearing with such grace and composure. Her reaction quickly turned to determination and resolve: we were going to beat it! That evening my sister appeared and she and my mom laughed together through the night in true mom and Diane form, proving that laughter is the greatest medicine. Mom was released from the hospital that next morning.

She decided that for her chemotherapy and radiation were not the correct course of treatment. She had been so healthy that the idea of putting her body through the treatment just seemed out of the question. It was a very personal decision for her and while some people disagreed with her plan, her family supported her completely. She started taking the pill daily to keep her body cancer free. She continued to eat healthy foods, exercise daily, work in her yard, read, engage with friends, and play daily with my dad. Most importantly, though, she maintained an attitude of positivity, certainty in her healthy body. She also was determined to live every day in the moment and cherish every second.

Today I celebrate my beautiful, intelligent, energetic, loving and brave mother, Beverly McCleary. She is beating cancer every day and living her life her way. What a legacy for her son, daughters and 6 grandchildren! She is the living example of the importance of being true to yourself. She is my personal hero!

#mother #breastcancer #postsurgery