The summer after my freshman year in college, I
worked and at the end of the summer before starting my sophomore year, my
family was at our house, sitting on our couches, having just gotten back from
dinner and my dad told us that cancer had come back for a third time. This time it was in several different areas
including his stomach. Again, stunned,
it felt like someone punched me in the face and then told me to get up and deal
with this for a third time. It was
upsetting, because I was in college, and I was not supposed to be dealing with
this. This time they did a new treatment
about once or twice a month, where he went to a cancer treatment center for a
full day each time. I remember one day,
sitting and watching my dad shake from the chemicals that they were putting
into him and thinking that no one should have to go through this, especially my
dad. Around Halloween weekend, I
remember calling my mom to tell her I was going to see dad that day. She told
me that I did not need to and they were going to stop the treatment. We found out
the treatment was not working and that the cancer was getting worse and
spreading. I remember thinking that this
was not possible and wanting everything to stop. I wanted God to take all of the cancer away
and my dad to experience good health and for my family to not have to deal with
this anymore. Over the next few weeks my
parents went up to Emory University in Atlanta, GA where the decision was made
to do a bone marrow transplant. To be
honest, I was scared. I had never even
heard of a bone marrow transplant. Once
my mom told me about it and how it used to be done, which if my dad had to go
through that, I would have not wanted him to go through that. My mom and dad told my sister and I that it
would not be as painful of a process, which helped me feel a little better
about it, but to be honest I still did not want my dad to go through this,
especially with what he was going through and had gone through.
Thanks for reading and God Bless,
Patrick Mastrianni
