Cancer is a horrible disease. It doesn’t discriminate. You can’t go far without meeting someone who has or has had cancer.
Childhood cancer is especially devastating. These kids should be playing with friends and learning new things, but they are stuck in a hospital and forced to endure pain, sickness, and difficult treatments.
In 2014, approximately 15,780 children and adolescents were diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, around 1,960 died from the disease.
Early diagnosis is key to their survival.
Michelle was watching the show The Doctors one day when they did a segment on a young woman who discovered she had thyroid cancer.
They demonstrated a simple technique to detect if cancer could be present. You swallow a mouthful of water with your head tipped back and see if there are any lumps or bumps beneath the Adam’s apple.
A few weeks later, Michelle was talking with her daughter Abby when she noticed a lump on the side of her throat that moved when she talked. Remembering the TV show, she told Abby she should get the bump checked out.
At first, Abby didn’t think there was anything to worry about. She was young, healthy, and fairly active, though she had quit some of her activities because she had been feeling more tired lately.
Michelle persisted and was adamant that Abby had to get checked out. She took her daughter to a pediatrician and there they learned the horrible truth: Abby had thyroid cancer.
Abby’s treatment plan included enduring both painful radiation and chemotherapy, but now she is thankful her mom was so insistent she get checked out.
“I can’t imagine where we would be today if I had not seen The Doctorsshow,” Michelle said. “I think that we would have missed Abby’s cancer. I want other people to know what to look for.”
Thankfully, Abby’s cancer is now in remission. She is healthy and happy and back to her life before the diagnosis.
Thank goodness for Michelle’s determination. It’s true what they say: mother knows best!
In this case, a mother’s intuition saved her daughter’s life!
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