The Life of a “Cancer Mom”

Everyday, millions of people are

impacted by cancer. Whether a
direct or indirect connection to the
disease, the effects of cancer are
felt by all. This is one of those
people. Her name is Kassady
Bingham, and she, like many
others, experiences the horrors of
this terrible disease everyday. She
is 26 years old and the mom to two
beautiful boys.

This is Kassady with her two sons,

Milo and Lucca. Lucca is three years
old, and Milo is almost two years old.
Kassady says that her sons are what
keep her going. They have been her
biggest blessing, but have also
brought the biggest trials into her life.
Her biggest dream was to be a mom,
and while this journey has not been
exactly what she predicted, she would
not change it for anything.
 This is Milo, a few weeks after
he was first diagnosed. He
was diagnosed with Leukemia
when he was just two months
old. She said that when Milo
was first diagnosed “the word
leukemia was hard to write,
and even harder to say.” She
says it’s funny how a word
that used to be so foreign and
impossible, is now part of
normal life. It has become part of their everyday vocabulary.

This image was from a couple months ago.

Milo had just had a Bone Marrow
Transplant (BMT). Milo has beaten cancer
once before, however he relapsed, and the
cancer is more aggressive than before.
Because of this, they are forced to find
other ways to fight the cancer. Some of
these include experimental drugs and
different transplants.
These images are not pretty, they are not fun to look at.
Hopefully, when looking at how horrific these images are, you
realize that something must be done. Kassady says that most
people try to sugarcoat cancer, however, she is not afraid to show
the reality of it. “I won’t cover up the truth, in order to make you
feel better,” she says. The truth is... cancer isn’t pretty, and we
shouldn’t pretend otherwise.

Kassady has become a big activist for

cancer. She stands up for these kids
and has very passionate feelings on
what needs to be done about this
disease, “Our children are not getting
enough government funding. The drugs
that are from the 40’s are still being
used because of the lack of funding.”
John Seffrin says, “Cancer is claiming
more than 1,600 lives in America every
day. Meanwhile, the budget of the NCI
has fallen woefully short of what’s
needed.

One of the things that has been so hard to watch is the toll the
disease has put on the family. She lives at the hospital with Milo
most of the time, and her husband stays at their house with
Lucca. The whole family is rarely together and when they are
 they’re never able to take full
advantage of it because something’s
always wrong. She says that “for every
one step forward we make, it seems
like three steps backwards always
follows.” Kassady says that her
marriage is struggling, but how could it
not? She never gets to spend time
with her son Lucca. She says that he
will sometimes pretend to be sick, so
that he can go to the hospital and see
his brother. She also feels like he does
it because he wants some of the
attention. Everything is always about his brother, and while not
intentional at all, he feels like he’s been placed on the back burner
for the last two years.

Kassady feels that everyday she loses more hope. It seems like
everything is crashing down. She says that she doesn’t feel sad,
or even mad anymore. She feels nothing. She has become
numb… the cancer has made her numb. She has tried to put on a
brave face to the world, but lately she feels like she has no
strength left. She feels like life has become a blur and it seems
 like they’re just going through the motions.

Kassady shared with me her

most recent post on
instagram. It says, “ Imagine
a big end of season sale
happening and stocking up
on clothes for your oldest for
next year, but hesitating and
not buying clothes the next
size up for your youngest
because you don’t know if
they’ll even still be here to make it to that size. Day 95 of living in
the hospital.”

This is childhood cancer. This is her life. If we

don’t start receiving more funding to find a
solution for the “leading cause of death
worldwide,” millions more precious lives will be
taken. Her closing remarks were, “Cancer. A
world I never thought we’d be a part of. Why
should you care? Because tomorrow you could
be a part of this world too.”

Milo returned home on February 23, 2002. His family is heartbroken, but relieved
to no longer have to see him in pain. They know his sweet spirit is always with them.