Today I'm sharing a guest post from Heather Von St. James. When she contacted me to share her story, I was honored. But when I read her reason of wanting to turn "pain into purpose", I understood and was even more excited to have her guest post.
We all so often take for granted marriage, kids and a long life. I think this week, more so than most, we know that nothing is promised except the gift of today.
I really believe the saying that it takes a village to raise a baby. When my daughter was born, all of our loved ones surrounded us, excited to meet Lily for the first time. They all wanted to be there for baby Lily and for us. Life was really just good after that beautiful day in August 2005 when she was born.
Things didn’t seem as good after I returned to work. I was feeling sick. Tired, fatigued, exhausted, breathless, and very weak; most people assumed that this was all part of being a new mom, and so did I. But after a while, it got to the point where I knew it was something more. I went to my doctor and he diagnosed me with malignant pleural mesothelioma, which is a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, which I learned I was exposed to as a child.
My doctor told me I’d live around 15 months without treatment. Looking at my little family, I knew that I had to do more than that. I chose to do whatever was the best chance of saving my life and I went to Boston and had my left lung removed by the best mesothelioma doctor around in a surgery called an extrapleural pneumonectomy that you can read about on my blog I recovered in that Boston hospital for 18 days, then spent two more months recovering, and then underwent chemotherapy and radiation. While I was in Boston, my little girl was in South Dakota, living in my childhood home with my parents. They had their own village with them, helping them to raise my daughter. I’d made amazing friends in Boston, people who were going through the same things I was, and it was these people who all make it possible for me to get through every day.
My parents were also surrounded by love during this time. Their church friends, work friends, and other friends were there for them. Some of the girls I babysat many years ago were taking the time from their own families and lives to watch Lily during the day while my parents worked. They were truly given so much support and love that it makes me happy. It was hard, however, seeing so many of Lily’s firsts in grainy photographs my mom sent to my husband that he printed for me. I missed her so much when the nurses came into my room to look at her photos, and I tried not to cry.
I learned a lot from being diagnosed with cancer. What I learned is that life is precious. There is always good with the bad. Lily has an amazing bond with my parents now, and no amount of time or distance will change that. I am appreciative and thankful for every minute of every single day; that is what cancer taught me.
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