Megan Young

5th Hour
October 18, 2018

Janeen-Daughter, Wife, Mother…

In August of 2016, my mom was re-diagnosed with stage four breast cancer. It was the
summer going into sophomore year, and my whole world was turned upside down. My mom was
my best friend and watching her go through cancer for the second time was heartbreaking. While
I helped care for my mom, I realized that I have a passion for helping people.

When I found out my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer again it was devastating.
This time the cancer was progressing and we didn’t have a lot of time left. My mom would have
chemotherapy and radiation done every two weeks and wouldn’t have any energy. Watching
someone you love and care for, go through this was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. My
mom was so sick and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. As the months were
passing by, my mom’s cancer has metastasized to her lungs. She could barely breathe on her own
and would have to use an oxygen tank. There were many sleepless nights where I would have to
make sure my mom was comfortable and if her oxygen was high enough. In May of 2017, my
mom’s cancer spread to her hip, her bones were very weak and fragile. One night my mom fell
and broke her hip and was told she would have to get surgery. This surgery was a big deal
because they would be putting my mom on a ventilator and we didn’t know if she would be
strong enough to come off of it. This was extremely scary because I knew my mom wouldn’t
want to be hooked up to a bunch of machines to keep her alive.

On May 24th my mom underwent her surgery and it was a success. I thought that this
would be the end of the surgeries and that my mom would get better. I thought she would be
allowed to receive more chemotherapy and that everything would get better. Unfortunately, later
that week my mom got worse and couldn’t fully recover from her surgery. She was placed on
hospice and later passed away on the 28th. When my mom was dying I held her hand the whole
time. I told her how much she meant to me and how grateful I was to have her as a mom. As I
was saying goodbye to my mom, I told her I loved her and that I would make her proud.

After my mom died I realized how much life is taken for granted. I realized how
important it is to live every day to the fullest. I wake up grateful because I have another day. I try
to take advantage of every opportunity that I am presented with. I recognized that I am very
strong, and I can handle anything that life gives me. This experience made me a better person, it
Megan Young
5th Hour
October 18, 2018

made me kinder and gave me more patience. I don’t stress out about the little things anymore,
because it simply isn’t worth it. I try to always look at the bigger picture and give everyone the
benefit of a doubt. Watching my mom fight through cancer taught me to never give up and to
always try my hardest. This situation taught me that life isn’t fair, but you can still have a
positive attitude. My goal of everyday is to make my mom proud, I want her to know that I will
not give up. I will work hard every day and try to accomplish my goals.

Overall, I have changed and grew a lot as a person, I went through something awful and
instead of giving up and quitting, I learned to persevere. This event took a major toll on my
physical and mental health, instead of being mad at the world I tried to understand why things
happened the way they did. I prospered as a person and grew up much quicker than I should
have, but I am grateful because it made me the person I am today.