Into the Light

In January of 2009, I came home from a school event to find my mom and dad crying on the couch. Unsure of what was going on, I sat down and comforted her. She found a lump that day under her right  armpit. Confused and upset, we kept calm and made appointments to see what it was and what next steps there were to take.
A few days later, the test came back that she had stage 3 breast cancer and had to have surgery immediately.  They went in and removed 17 lymph nodes and also removed her right breast. After recovering from surgery, was the start of a long journey of chemotherapy.
She lost all of her hair, went numb in her arms and toes, was very weak and sick most days. She was also driving every other week to Ann Arbor for chemo. These were some of the things that were the hardest for the family to see and deal with.  It wasn't the same, our mom wasn't our mom. We went from a mom with so much energy and motivation, to the opposite. My mom was determined to be that mom again someday. 
8 years later, and my mom is one of the strongest people I know. Her courage and strength is something I look up too. She is a 8 year survivor and many more years to come. We just did our 6th annual Into the Light cancer walk this past week as a family and every year we look forward to celebrating that she is still here with us.