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My 5 Time Cancer Surviving Hero! A Miracle Story!

Strength is Power

By Sadie ColucciPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
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My HERO!

My mother has been a phenomenal mom from as far back as I can remember; approximately the age of 2. She and my father met through my mother’s brother. My father and her brother were best friends. My mother was 16 at the time and lived in a very abusive household. She and my father magically clicked and back then was her knight in shining armor. His mother loved my mother and they got along wonderfully. In fact, my grandmother even before my parents got married, told my parents they better name their first child Sadie after her. It was the English translation of her name Severina. My grandmother was sadly ill at the young age of 50 and while she was able to see them get married at the young ages of 18 and 22; she was unable to witness my being born 2 years later. My parents did honor her wishes and named me Sadie however; which was a beautiful tribute to her. Shortly after that, less than 2 years later my other brother was born. My parents, while always loving each other; were very young and divorced when I was 4.

ME at age 3

I was lucky to have such wonderful parents, who while even being divorced; remained good friends. There were never arguments about custody or a lack of love present. I was always the apple of my parents’ eyes. My mother would always take my brother and me shopping and for fun errands. A funny embarrassing little tidbit from when I was just learning to talk- We were in a department store and passed the aisle that had clocks ⏰ displayed. I was mesmerized by all the clocks and as I pointed; I excitedly screamed “f**ks!@@@!- instead of clocks!My mom was mortified but laughed inside and to this day she and I still talk about that moment.

“F**ks!” (Oh clocks) LOL

At home, I was always by her side interested in everything she did and always participated in some capacity whether be it cooking or cleaning or laundry. She gave both of us children an amazing childhood. Two years later, she met my now stepfather of 34 years. He played such a valuable role in my and my brother’s childhoods growing up as well as in the latter parts of her life which is to come shortly. They got married 2 years later and he accepted us unconditionally as his children.

My stepfather and mother married 34 years now.

We never lacked love from any of our 3 parents. My father and stepfather always were amicable from day one and all showed us attention and care throughout our childhoods.

My father and stepfather (lucky)

As I became a teenager, my mother was my biggest supporter. She would drive geeky me to school early everyday before work and would pick me up late everyday after my extra curricular activities at school. She never missed a concert, sports game or competition. I was always an overachiever but she never exuded pressure on me to be perfect but rather supported all my interests. As it became time for college; I thought about going away but deep down inside I just knew my mother wanted me to stay home for college. I never said anything to her but I made the decision to attend college from home to make her happy. I had figured that all the sacrifices they made for us children, it was the least I could do. I was always mature beyond my years and knew in my heart what was best. I can’t forget to mention that by the time come to attend college, I had a brother on the autism spectrum that I grew close to and had a very special bond with. Even to this day our bond is like no other bond. Therefore, needless to say, between my brother and my mother, my decision to stay home was a no-brainer. I knew where I was needed.

Stayed home for College

It was not long after I started my college career that my mother faced her first bout with breast cancer. Being her first cancer, we were all perplexed and unprepared for the hell that was to come. They removed the cancerous node and she had her first bout with radiation. It was tough on her physically and mentally but her inexplicable strength got her through like the superhero I knew she was.

Her first bout with cancer

A few years and a follow-up mammogram later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer again; this time in the mammary glands. We had no idea at the time what that meant for her. The doctors were only able to remove what they could and another round of radiation was in store for her. She took it like a trooper. A 2 time cancer survivor she now was; a hero to me.

Cancer again?

Years had passed; I was in my 30’s and my mother went for a routine checkup and some alarming information had shown up. This couldn’t be!!!!! Cancer again? How much can one person endure??? We were all dumbfounded and totally in shock to find out she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Drs found a node that was rather enlarged and after the biopsy was performed, they decided there was no other option but to remove a wedge from one of the lobes of her lung hoping to capture and remove all the cancerous cells from the area. The surgery was a success at that time. They didn’t want to do radiation in case she had a reoccurrence. She had multiple follow up visits for 2 years and no reoccurrence or new cancer. Unfortunately, after 3 years passed, my mother had gone for another cat scan of her lungs. To all our surprise and dismay, the cancer was back and it had spread to the whole lobe of her lung. My stepfather and I went with her to Sloan Kettering in New York City for the surgery. We waited 8 long and tedious hours to find out the outcome of the surgery and what the future held for my hero. They ended up removing a third of her lung at that moment(the whole lobe) and a regimen of radiation and strong chemo was ordered as the treatment. My stepfather and I took her to every radiation and chemo and I stayed with her throughout every single one. My amazing stepfather and I made sure that she never spent one iota of a second alone. He took care of her at home and I visited and took her to all her visits where my stepfather met us after work. It was a family team effort. I don’t know how my mother had the strength to get through yet another surgery but she did. You’d think her bouts with cancer were over but surprisingly NOPE!!!!! 2 years ago she a follow up cat scan and the doctors shockingly found that despite the past aggressive treatments the lung cancer came back yet again for a third time. At this point we all were devastated and at a loss for words. A person can only handle a certain amount of radiation and chemo without compromising their whole immune system completely. Again, she had surgery with my stepfather and myself present again. They removed what they could from what had spread this time to her lymph nodes in her lungs. The treatment was again radiation and chemotherapy. So, being familiar with the process from the time before, my stepfather and I repeated the same routine as last time. We never left her side throughout the whole treatment process. Unfortunately, this time things didn’t go as planned. My mother was told to go for immunotherapy which is supposed to help regenerate the lungs ability to work and it capacity and function for her to breathe again. She went for 2 rounds of immunotherapy when something went terribly wrong. While home in bed, she couldn’t breathe and my stepfather called an ambulance. At this time, we lived across from each other so I quickly went there and then to the hospital. After she was stabilized with forced oxygen, doctors explored and diagnosed her with pneumonitis. This was the last thing we expected as it was a rare side effect of immunotherapy that only occurred in 5 percent of its recipients. Well OF COURSE my mother would get that! Why not? She already had cancer 5 times!

Cancer 5 times?!!!?! 😡

So... fast forward to the present time now, a year and a half later, my mother, my hero, is on oxygen 24/7,uses a wheelchair when needed and coughs constantly. We just found out from her main doctor at Sloan Kettering that she has multiple suspicious nodes in her chest with a 60% chance of being cancerous; in conjunction with moderate fluid surrounding her heart and severe anemia. You’d thing my mother would have given up all hope by now but NOPE... Quite the opposite.

My mom is the true definition of strength!

I’ve never seen such strength and will to live and not give up in a single human being in my life. Even with her deterioration and extremely difficult life, my mother looks at the positive side of things. She always says “Today is a new day and I’m alive!” I’d like to think I have the same amount of strength, fearlessness and willingness to not give up like she does. She’s a true hero to me. From the day I was born until present day now, she has always supported me. All the hell she went through, and is currently going through, may have stopped her momentum, absolutely; but let’s get one thing right.. it hasn’t stopped her will to live life to the fullest. That is a quality I can only hope to inherit from her. My mom, my forever HERO!

FOREVER MY HERO!

grief
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About the Creator

Sadie Colucci

I’m 41 years old. I graduated with a degree in psychology and work with children and adults on the autism spectrum. I love reading, writing, poetry, singing, dance and learning.

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