It's been five years

Five years ago my mother told me that my dad had cancer, again.

Photo by Chloe Karis

The first time he had cancer, I didn’t understand what it was as I was too young. But this time being told, it hit me. I remember hearing those words in my mother’s shaky voice. My eyes became blurry from the tears. I went inside and called one of my friends asking if I could go visit her. Leaving the front door my father was on the couch, asking where I was going. I could not look at him, all I said was, “I’m going down the road” and left.

My dad had a rare form of leukaemia, and there was a 1% chance that he was going to make it. From there on, I knew it was going to be a tough year for not only me, for my family and my dad. Life became a new normal for me, I would come home from school, wait for my mum to come home to then go to the hospital to visit my dad. The times when he was home, I would cook him breakfast and make him a juice my mother forced my dad to drink. The drink was filled with vitamins to help him as his appetite diminished. I would then go to school and come home to look after him further until my mum arrived back home. I was only thirteen at the time, and normal thirteen year olds don’t spend their time looking after their father. I matured a lot during that year. A blessing during all of this is that my dog fell pregnant and had a puppy. She was the perfect little distraction for my family during this time and I couldn’t have been more thankful.

Photo by Chloe Karis

My father tried different chemotherapies but none was working for him as much as my family had hoped. Later that year in October, my father had passed away. This was obviously a rough part throughout the journey. That year was the toughest chapter of my life. I had to turn the page to start a new chapter, without my dad by my side.

A big help during and after this journey for me was CanTeen. They help young kids who have or currently are dealing with cancer somewhere in their lives. CanTeen invite kids who are going through similar problems to do activities for a day or few days. If you would like to help in someway, you can volunteer! A helping hand can go a long way for someone else.

If you know someone who has cancer and you would like to help their family, cook them dinner for a night, or if they have kids take them to the movies. If you would like to help by donating, please donate. There are a lot of fundraisers you can donate to that will make a huge difference. Leukaemia Foundation and Cancer Council are major fundraisers in Australia.