Part 1

Monday May 25, 1992 was the day that changed my parent’s life forever. Mama woke up that morning with a lot of back pain and could barely walk. Daddy had to help her get up and around. Not having pervious back pain or doing anything to hurt her back; my parents were shocked that my mom was in so much pain.

It was Memorial Day, an American holiday reserved for men and women who died while serving in the military. Many American’s observe this holiday by having parades, visiting cemeteries or memorials, having family gatherings, or attending town events. Mt. Pleasant use to host a big event at the high school football field. Tickets were sold and almost the whole town would be there. There was a big stage for a concert with a new and upcoming music artist. Tents were also set up to buy silly toys, food, red white and blue lights, and who knows what else.

Well, Mama was suppose to work the ticket booth for this event but she could barely walk. Daddy had to help her get around and take a chair for her to sit in. The pain only got worse through the day and she decided to go to the doctor the next day. Her doctor did a normal physical exam but couldn’t find a problem. He was startled at the fact that she was only 34 and was in so much pain. Mama was a nurse and took good care of herself. Since it was such a mystery, the doctor told her to take a week off and try to build her way up to walking a mile. She did exactly what he said, but as the week went on, she only got worse. She could only walk maybe 20 yards. She went back to the doctor the following week. He was in shock with the decline in her health. This was just not normal so he ordered a CT Scan. On Monday, two weeks later; Daddy took her to the hospital to get tested. She worked there, so she had her friend and her doctor do the test for her. Daddy wanted to stay but Mama insisted she was okay and told him to go to work. She said she would call him if she needed him. The scan came back with the result of cancer. They were all so shocked! She called Daddy, but he was on his lunch break playing basketball at the gym. A friend went to get him to let him know he was needed at the hospital. Daddy left immediately. He walked into the room and her first words were, “I am not ready to die.”

The cancer was in her shoulder, chest, and hip. It had already metastasized and began to spread. The cancer had been eating away at her hip and that was the reason she had a hard time walking. Daddy still didn’t know what to do about the situation. He went to the doctor and said, “I need you to just tell me what is going on and what I need to do.” The doctor told him he had found some the cancer but he didn’t know where it originated. He said, “If I can’t find where it originated, then she won’t be here Thanksgiving.” More test were run and finally found out that the cancer was coming from one of her kidneys. Her health was getting worse and her doctor decided to do an arterial embolization. This blocks the blood flow to the kidney. He thought this would help but it didn’t. Daddy asked the doctor, “What now?” He replied, “If it was my wife or mother I’d take her home. Make her as comfortable as possible and just spend quality time with her.” Mama refused and said she wanted to go to MD Anderson in Texas for experimental treatment. So they left for Texas.