My Best Friend, My Mother

My Best Friend, My Mother

Heather

It has been a little over three years since we sat in the hospital room listening to the doctor explain what a “glioblastoma” is. We had never even heard that word before. We brought my mom into the hospital because she was getting very forgetful and repeating herself a lot. She was 52 years old and I just thought she needed some ginkgo biloba or something. After the doctor delivered the news and told us that life expectancy was 1-3 years, my brother, two sisters, and I just didn’t know what to do. After the biopsy my mother was just never the same. She lost the sparkle in her eyes. She lost herself. The change was so immediate and heartbreaking.

Over the next 3 months she went down hill so fast. My mom was a nurse’s aide her whole life so she was very adamant that she never wanted to be put in a nursing home. We took care of mom at home as a family. Took her to all the chemo appointments…which had no effect. The tumor was inoperable and very resistant to treatment. By the end my mother was bed ridden and completely unresponsive. I watched a tumor steal my mothers life. A vibrant 52 year old woman was reduced to an invalid in a matter of months. We got the diagnosis the first week of June 2009. My mother lost her battle with that tumor on December 9, 2009, just 5 months later. She was a very happy and loving person who will be missed more than words!

Opinions expressed within this story belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of the National Brain Tumor Society.