Bittersweet: My Daughter's Coming Home

What do you do when your adult daughter tells you she has cancer? Right away you go into ‘mommy’ mode. At least that’s what I did. I didn’t want her to be alone as she went through this, the most horrible time in her life, and I needed to figure out how I would be able to help her. I started to form a plan about taking time off from my job.

Jobs and living situations after diagnosis

My daughter lives in Virginia and I live in New York. We had to make this work somehow. We both had jobs we needed to keep. My initial plan was to take a leave from my job. I talked to my boss and he got the ball rolling. I knew I had to be with her. Luckily, the stars aligned and Crystal was able to move to New York temporarily during treatment. Thankfully, her job agreed to hold her position for as long as she needed.

She was also able to get out of her apartment lease. That was a tough one, but her job helped her out with this too. I was really impressed with them because Crystal had just started working for this company. My husband and I were able to take some time off from work and off we went to Virginia to get her. It was bittersweet. We had her home, but she was sick.

Turning her world upside down

Crystal just found out she had cancer and didn’t know what she was going to have to face. Now, she had to move back home and change up her whole life again. Crystal was in the Air Force and was used to moving around, but now that she was out, she was hoping to stay in one place and make it her home. Cancer changed all that. She had to turn her world upside down again.

As a parent, all the changes she would have to go through broke my heart. She had to leave her friends and her new job. Cancer took that time away from her. I just wanted her to be her carefree self again and get to experience all that life had to offer. None of us knew how this would turn out and we were all scared. The good news was that she was home and we would fight this battle together. That was all I could offer her.

Back in NY and ready to fight

Being back in NY allowed Crystal to get treatment at Sloan. Sloan is one of the top hospitals in the country and I was so glad she was going to go there. It was a place I trusted. I felt so bad for my daughter. She must have been terrified. I know how I felt was when I first found out I had thyroid cancer. It was a horrible feeling. At least she would be getting good treatment with top doctors in their field. Everything was set and we were ready to beat this. The fight was on!