This book is written entirely from my perspective. I'm a Mum. I'm not a doctor. My child looked different at 6 months old, 3 weeks and 2 days which is where our story started. The day he turned 7 months he was diagnosed with cancer. I wrote this book to let people know the enormity of this experience and to let you know you are not alone in navigating the layers.
Any advice offered within these pages is offered purely as a source of comfort and an offer of help and guidance in seeing you through, or helping you see a much loved one through to the other side of this part of your lives. It is hard. Very hard. But it is also very raw and can be very beautiful and impeccably bittersweet.
Cancer care is challenging. There is no easy way through it. Some parts will be harder than others, some parts won't be as hard as you expect, other parts may be a blindside. How you choose to embark on this part of your life is entirely your decision. When it's your child, you are required to make a lot of decisions on their behalf. As their parent you support them through the outcome of every agreement you made, guiding them through as best you can, encouraging them to know and trust themselves, whilst you learn to know and trust yourself. The type of knowing that only comes with this type of hardship. It is a lot to go through. A lot to recover from.
This is not a "How to.." but more of a things I learned along the way. I learned there is no rule book for this part, no aspect that will fit all because every single person is an individual, and this is an incredibly unique personal experience.
If this book helps you through the enormity of attempting to make your way through any part of this, then I will be forever grateful to have found you. As a parent of a child who survived, who is so incredibly lucky to have my child in my arms and to be able to see him grow and thrive in his own special way, please know I'm thinking of you. Of all of you, always.