I grew up with opportunities and always taught myself to be positive. Eleven years ago, I was faced with the most traumatizing situation in my life. My life change in a blink of an eye when I was in second grade. My dad was going through a fistula surgery that would decide if he had developed pelvic cancer. From the moment my parents told me, I was obviously confused since I was so young. I thought that this surgery was going to be quick and simple. Nevertheless, I was completely wrong and my life took a new dramatic turn.
I had accepted that this had taken effect on the whole family because my mother would be crying constantly, and I would just sit in the doctor’s office with my homework assignments. As I mentioned before I was young and confused. I really was impacted when this surgery lasted more than one year. By the end of 3rd grade, I was convinced that this surgery was going to take over my father’s life. The illness progressed and he at that time lost 25 pounds in one month and that is when things affected me. My grades plunged and I was not doing well in elementary school.
I was failing math and science. Every day, I was constantly at the hospital hoping that this surgery would go away. It was a repeated cycle my mom drove my dad and my dad stayed at the hospital for a month and a half then came back. The next month was the same thing. My mother became my father’s babysitter. She would have to feed, clean, and administered his medications that he would have to take. This continued for the next 3 years and my time I was getting old. My father was fully convinced that he was going to have pelvic cancer.
I remember the day the doctor came back and said that my father was free to go. I was so joyful at the moment nothing could bring me down. My family and I suffered this stressful journey for about eight years. We were all convinced that he was going to die because of how ill he became. Life changed on October 7, 2010. I was taught a sense of responsibility with this journey. I do not regret the experience I had with this challenging journey it shaped me in so many different ways. My father taught me compassion, love, and strength. The compassion that I possessed throughout this phase was incredible.
I learned how to sacrifice things for my father. For example, I sacrificed hanging out with my friends just to be with my dad in the hospital because I did not know how many years he might have left. The strong love I built with my father at that time is always going to be cherished somewhere. I remember we used to watch full house before I would go to school the next morning. I was able to handle school, stress, and my father’s illness at a very young age. This taught me that I can go through anything no matter how hard or difficult it is.
