Emm x, Aged 15

I had never even considered this being cancer; and I broke into tears, which caused her to break down.

My mum became ill in the summer holidays of 2008. Being off school meant I was up in our holiday home with her when her energy levels suffered and she was permanently ill. She would never admit that it was serious and would always brush it off with it being "food poisoning" or "asthma". I took her word for it and never really questioned her health and was certain that she'd get better. A few weeks after, a courier had passed her a note saying to attend the hospital as soon as possible as a defect had been found in her blood after an eye exam. She attended hospital and I frequently visited her. She text me saying it was "gall stones" and was nothing to worry about. Then on August the 24th she sat me down whilst lying on the bed and explained how she had cancer of the pancreas. I had never even considered this being cancer; and I broke into tears, which caused her to break down. She exclaimed "With chemo I will have two years, but I'm planning to break any expectations and live longer". Two months later, on October the 24th, she died peacefully. The chemo hadn't worked and she deteriorated rapidly right in front of my eyes. I miss my mum.

Page updated 18 July 2012