Melanoma cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. There are more than 200,000 U.S. cases per year. It is also one of the most serious types of cancer. Melanoma stage four cancer is a 15-20 percent chance of being alive five years after diagnosis. My mom was diagnosed with melanoma stage four in about February 2023. The process leading up to her losing her battle with this cancer was not only rough on her but rough on my dad, my brother, and me. Everybody who goes through losing a loved one has to find different ways to cope, knowing their loved one doesn’t have much longer to live.
I’ve interviewed a couple of people on their perspectives on cancer. I interviewed Mrs.Walker Bryant, a building-level sub here at Gloucester High School. Mrs. Walker told me that her sister has cancer right now. She mentioned to me that she is not very upset about it because she is a prayer warrior. She said that if it were a few months ago, then she would be a mess and be much more upset. Since Mrs.Walker has worked on herself so much these last few months and getting closer with God that she knows how to deal with tough situations like these.
The next person I interviewed was my dad. My dad said that he knows what melanoma cancer is because my mom had it. He mentioned that it made him scared and worried when he found out my mom had this cancer. He also said that one of the worst parts of everything was watching someone you love become unrecognizable and not knowing how to help them or being able to do anything about it. The last thing he said was how he knew my mom didn’t have much longer once it got to stage four because she stopped eating and she got put on hospice.
Now that I’ve explained all of my interviews, I’m going to tell my mom’s story. My mom, Amy Crowder, got diagnosed with stage four melanoma cancer in about February 2023. She got a bump on her arm and she got it around December, she already knew what it was because she had it before in the same spot, but got it removed. The cancer came back, and by the time she went to the hospital, it was already stage four. Stage four is an endgame. It is the worst stage and very rare survival chances of stage four cancer. She stayed in the hospital for about a week in February due to her cancer. When my brother, my dad, and I left the hospital that night my dad told my brother and I “I want you guys to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” My brother and I were already crying because we hated seeing our mom like that in the hospital. I don’t think anyone could’ve prepared for that. After that hospital trip, she had to start getting treatments. Then, she stopped eating full meals, she only ate small portions of things, if she ate a meal she would throw it up within minutes. My mom got sicker and sicker by the day. One of her hospital trips my brother and I had to step out of the room so the doctor could talk to my mom and dad. I later found out he told them that she wouldn’t make it to Christmas. Things got so much worse from then on.
My mom could no longer walk on her own. On her very last trip to get her treatment, her doctor told her that she was too weak and could no longer do treatment. She went home that day and got put on hospice. About two weeks later, she lost her battle to cancer on August 5th, 2023 at around 8:50 pm. God needed her more than we did. A few days later I found a note that she had written to me and when I read it, it was like losing her all over again. That Friday was her funeral, I intended to speak, but I just couldn’t bring myself to speak. It has been almost seven months since she passed away, and it still breaks my heart to even think about it. She was and forever will be my best friend. I plan to get a tattoo in her memory when I turn old enough to get a tattoo.
In conclusion, hug your loved ones much tighter, because their life could be gone in a blink of your eyes. God needed her more than I did, something I will never understand is why God took her from me at the time he did. She raised me into the young woman I am today, and I will forever be grateful for her and the way she raised me. My biggest goal in life is now to make her proud of me one day and succeed in something I love doing. I know she’s by my side, even if I cannot feel her, touch her, or see her. I know she is by my side, watching over me and guiding me in the right direction. I know deep down that she is already proud of me, but I want to make her even more proud one day. I can’t wait to graduate High School and know that she is watching over me and is proud of who and what I will become one day. I am also forever grateful that I got the gift of being her daughter. We had ups and downs, but I’ll forever cherish our memories and the bond that we had. My mother and I’s bond was one of a kind. It was a bond that many people wish to have with their mothers. I am lucky enough to have had that bond with her from the beginning. Hug your loved one tighter, make sure they know you love them.
