A Mom's Cancer Chronicles: The Best Gift Of All! : Good Enough Mother

A Mom’s Cancer Chronicles:
The Best Gift Of All!

It’s an early Christmas gift to me and the best one EVER! To my husband Cesar, don’t bother getting me anything; your love and support is my gift!

So what was the gift? Walking out of John’s Hopkins with the words still hanging in the air; “You are still in remission. Go home. Hold your son and spend time with your husband.”

I am so exhausted. Mentally it drains you and physically I’m spent from the real-life bone marrow transplant recovery and the phantom pains of “what-ifs”.

I’m tired.

But I am happy because it wasn’t that long ago that I was here, remember?

A Mom’s Cancer Chronicles: In The Beginning

I feel like I walked out of that office with the GIFT OF TIME to go make memories (until the next 3 weeks) I was waiting for someone to say “Now, you are going to Disneyland!!” Good Lord. The roller coaster ride of emotions as a survivor is crazy, but so so rewarding.

Of course, I missed Gabriel’s Christmas performance and the first thing he said when he saw me (in a grumpy voice) “I don’t like when you leave me! No! No! No!”

But I know it was all worth it to come home to him and hold him in my arms. After leaving him at the age of 1 1/2 for an entire year to fight for my life, my son gets upset if I leave him for even an hour.

But here is my message to you today as we approach Christmas and the Christ’s birth.

You have been given the gift of TIME and the gift of LIFE so please go out and enjoy every single moment you have. Go make memories with your kids, your family, your loved ones, your friends. Cherish the holidays, take time to laugh, celebrate life and de-stress. Don’t argue over the small stuff. Let it go. Time spent angry will rob you of the time you can be enjoying life.

You don’t know what the future holds. In an instant, your life can be turned upside, just as mine was. I hope it won’t be, but I want you to #ArmorUp and Be Prepared.

Surviving cancer and getting checked constantly to see if it “came back” is is stressful way to live but it also teaches you to value life and every second GOD gives you on this earth.