Mom you are Missed #FuckCancer5 min read

Cancer – The killer of a beautiful Woman, Mom.

Its hard to believe it, but 10 years ago I lost the most influential woman in my life, someone who called it like she saw it.  Someone who cared so boldly and fought so fiercely for what she wanted.  My Mom.

The Woman

This wonderful lady raised me right.  Wooden spoon to my ass when I was bad as a kid. You know it, being raised in the 80’s before all this new age parenting, you know, when we didn’t turn into little evil kids who got away with everything because the parents were afraid of actually punishing the kids because god forbid someone finds out that you spanked your kid.  In this day and age people lose their kids for less.  Its truly sad.

Now I’m not saying mom beat me, far from it.  I learned respect from this woman, I learned love and caring, compassion, respect, and strength.  Strength is by far the most important thing I learned from her, not to sway the importance of everything else she passed on to me, but strength is the one thing she didn’t intentionally do.

I had to witness her struggle with Cancer, watch it spread, watch it slowly take her, and I had to watch how it effected my brother, my dad, all the family.  She was strong in ways that nobody can understand unless you witnessed it first hand.

I miss her greatly, everyday.  There are days where I hold my phone and it still has her number plugged into it.  I’m sure if I called it there would be a complete stranger that isn’t my mom on the other end; but there are days when I’m tempted to call it and hope and pray that she answers but only for a moment.

But I digress, mom taught me so much in this world, I cannot even begin to expand on all she taught me.  I wish she could see me today.  Through all my failings as a young man, the trials and tribulations I have endured over the years.  The good and the bad, I wish she could be here for just one day.  To meet her grandchildren that she never had the chance to meet.  She has a lot of them now between myself and my brother.  And she always wanted grand babies. Just, one, day.

But again I digress.  My mother struggled with cancer, going into remission and coming out of remission.  Her life was cut short way too young, hell, I am only 2 years younger than she was when she passed away now.  God it doesn’t feel like 20 years has gone by.  I can still hear her voice telling me what to do, encouraging me to push myself harder, and to not give up.  Warning me about my now ex wife (she told me she was going to hurt me, it was true, she cheated but that is a story for another blog post). My mother was quite a woman, and is missed. I cannot even begin to tell you all the amazing things that my mom was. Her words of wisdom I still follow, all these years later. My heart is perpetually warmed by her memory.

The Facts

• There are over 100 types of cancer
• in 2008 7.6 MILLION people died of cancer (13% of of all deaths worldwide)
• Approx 70% of all cancer deaths occur in low/middle income countries
• Worldwide, the 5 most common types of cancer that kill women are (in the order of frequency): breast, lung, stomach, colorectal and cervical. In many developing countries, cervical cancer is the most common cancer.
• Tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of cancer in the world causing 22% of cancer deaths
• One fifth of all cancers worldwide are caused by a chronic infection, for example human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer and hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes liver cancer.
• Cancers of major public health relevance such as breast, cervical and colorectal cancer can be cured if detected early and treated adequately.
• All patients in need of pain relief could be helped if current knowledge about pain control and palliative care were applied.
• More than 30% of cancer could be prevented, mainly by not using tobacco, having a healthy diet, being physically active and moderating the use of alcohol. In developing countries up to 20% of cancer deaths could be prevented by immunization against the infection of HBV and HPV.

Facts are from: World Health Organization

The Plea

Since cancer is what took her from this world, I ask anyone visiting this blog to do me just one simple favour.  Visit this link (Cancer.ca) and donate to cancer research, I don’t care what you donate, but please do; this needs to be defeated in my lifetime, hopefully so my children never have to experience it in their lifetimes.  I have 2 kids that I would love to have them never know what it feels like to experience what I did as a young man.

Please Donate.