Cancer: it is my family history
Saturday, February 28, 2009
By: Christina Van Beek

Cancer. Unfortunately, it is striking many of the women in my family. Will it happen to me too? We need to help win this battle!

Cancer has been affecting many of the women on my mom's side of the family. This is a terrifying thought? What does the future behold for my sister and I? Will we develop it also?

My first memory of cancer is when my aunt Ida (one of my mom's sisters) was doing chemo treatments and battling stomach cancer, which is apparently very rare, and getting thinner and thinner all the time. Months later, she lost her life to it.

In January 2002, my mom started suffering from back pain. She tried many things to help relieve it but nothing seemed to work. At the end of July she was diagnosed with Secondary Bone cancer of the Primary Unknown.

The doctors said that she could try treatments but that it wouldn't really do much at this point. So she decided to just let it run it's course and deal with it. It was very difficult for my sister and I to watch our mom slowly die. Only six years earlier, we had lost our dad to a sudden heart attack. Now, we were planning for the death of another parent. My mom was in a lot of pain and it was awful to watch her suffer.

We tried our best to make her comfortable and to look after her the best we could. On March 9, 2003 she succumbed to the cancer. I won't forget the date as it was only one month and one week until her next birthday.

Just this past November, I lost my Aunt Judy (my mom's other sister) to Secondary Bone cancer which started as Breast cancer. When she first went for tests the results came back negative then later on she was diagnosed.

Also, last year my sister was diagnosed with the HPV virus. She had surgery to have it removed and I only pray that it is gone for good!

What does all this mean for my sister and I? Will we suffer the same fate as some of the other women in our family?
This is why I participate in the Relay for Life. To help remember my loved ones who died from cancer and to help raise money for research to help us win the battle against it.