Having Cancer is one of the worst diseases to ever obtain. In any moment, it could strike you and affect you and those surrounding you. I could never imagine being on the side with Cancer, but to be a caregiver to a Cancer patient, I know what it’s like to feel pain.
My senior year of high school, just two weeks before prom, one of my best friends was diagnosed with leukemia. The next six months were a rollercoaster of hell that I was not able to prepare for.
The day I found out I was sitting in my backyard trying to get tan for prom. My friend texted me saying she needed to come over to talk to me. I was clueless. She comes over and tells me our dear friend had leukemia. At the time I just lost my neighbor to leukemia, so my reaction was just taken back and stunned. It wasn’t until later when it hit me. It was late at night and I walked in to my house. I fell into my mom’s arms crying hysterically. Our friend group got together to talk and we knew we could get through this together.
I was pulled out of class the next day to talk to my guidance counselor. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days on end. Visits to the hospital became a normal trip, and I would make sure to keep a positive mind because that’s what we needed, to be positive. With a smile on her face, she rested in her hospital bed with no complaint, and we went on discussing gossip she was missing at school.
She missed prom. Next was graduation. She was too sick to come to graduation, so the principal, superintendent and teachers came to the hospital. We had our own little ceremony where she got to walk to graduation music, hear a speech, and get a diploma. In that moment, I got to watch my beautiful friend graduate high school. I was so proud.
During the summer it became harder. Chemo started, she began to lose weight and lose hair. She went through surgeries, nothing was working. Yet she was still glowing, still so positive. I kept positive with her. I would try to see her every week, before I went off to college. I thought I would try my best to see her even when I was gone. The last day I saw her was August 24th, I left for college less than a week later.
We would catch up with each other by texting and Snapchat. Every picture she took would be a funny face, never serious. I would always laugh and ask how she was doing. She always answered, “I’m okay.” The night before Thanksgiving break she snapchatted me a funny picture, I never answered. The next day I sent her a snapchat saying, “I’m coming home!” I couldn’t wait to see her. She never opened the picture.
That night I was home I was sitting on the floor by my fireplace. The phone rang, my mom answered. She came back into the room and told me my friend passed away that day.
I can remember it all; the crying, the shaking, and the hugs my parents were giving me. I called my friends unable to speak; they came over and cried with me. I was numb for weeks. I skipped classes to go to the funeral, I couldn’t focus when I was back, I felt hopeless.
Almost two years later and I still reminisce all the memories I had with her. I miss her and think of her everyday. But to know I was there for her when she needed me the most, that’s what mattered. There’s nothing much a person could do while the one they love is suffering. All you can do is love them and talk to them when they need it, even when they don’t. To be a caregiver is to care. And even if they don’t make it, they know you were there for the. That’s what matters. Stay strong, be brave, and smile through.