When people discover that they have cancer, their lives take a 180-degree turn.
In a Facebook post that was posted on 3rd September that has garnered 6k comments and 39k shares, a mother shares how her children’s lives have drastically changed after her then 3-year-old son was diagnosed with leukaemia.
Kaitlin starts off by saying that people often talk about how they struggle financially and with medical problems when talking about childhood cancer. Though what people don’t talk about is how it affects the entire family- especially those with children.
She then describes the stark reality pre and post-cancer.
“My two kids, 15 months apart, went from playing in school and at home together to sitting in a cold hospital room together. My then 4 year-year-old daughter Aubrey, watched her brother Beckett go from an ambulance to the ICU.”
Source: Facebook
Aubrey watched a dozen doctors throw a mask over Beckett’s face, poke and prod him with needles, pump a dozen medications through his body, all while he laid there helpless.
Kaitlyn then recalled that her daughter was very confused about what was happening, but she knew that something was plaguing Beckett, her brother, her best friend.
“A little over a month after he was released from the hospital, she watched him struggle to walk and struggle to play. The lively, energetic, and outgoing little brother she once knew was now a quiet, sick, and very sleepy little boy.”
Source: Facebook
Aubrey didn’t understand why they couldn’t do the things that they did back then anymore. Beckett was going through a myriad of therapies and it was a lot for Aubrey to process.
“To her, it was something special he got to do that she didn’t. Why couldn’t they go to their favorite trampoline park anymore? Why couldn’t they go to the splash pads they previously went to? Why didn’t he have to go back to school, but she did?”
People might be wondering why she exposed her young daughter to the reality of cancer at this tender age, to which Kaitlin says that children need support and they should not be kept away from a person who is ill.
Source: Facebook
Aubrey is always there for her brother even when he throws up during playtime, she stays by his side and rubs his back when he’s throwing up.
She stuck by him. She supported him and she took care of him, regardless of the situation.
And that’s the reality of childhood cancer.
It’s very sad to see anyone suffering from cancer, even more so when the person is a young child that doesn’t understand what they are suffering is not as simple as a tummy ache or a flu. We hope that little Beckett will be able to beat cancer and live a normal life.
Also read: M’sian Man Selflessly Offers Himself As Test Subject For New Chemo So That Others Won’t Suffer
