God Blessed Me with my Mom (Lindsey Daoust)
Once upon a time, a 2 ½ year old girl became very sick. Her mother noticed that she became lethargic, pale, had no appetite, and was rapidly losing weight. Every day, she whined, ached, and just wanted to lay on the carpet. No one could figure out the problem, until she met a life-saving doctor in Green Bay, WI. This doctor realized that something serious was going on, and he ordered blood work and a bone marrow test. This strong and brave little girl endured excruciating pain as doctors extracted her bone marrow with adult-sized needles. After many grueling tests and many tears, the doctor informed her parents that their little girl had childhood acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia; she had 6 months to live.
Her chemotherapy drugs were so strong that she became sick every morning, having no energy to do anything else throughout the day. She traveled to the hospital weekly only to get stuck with many needles for bone marrow extractions, spinal taps, and lab work. She could not venture outside the four brick walls of her little home on Kellogg Street, and she begged her parents to let her outside on the porch to watch her daddy grill, only to get bit by a mosquito and have her leg balloon up so much as to not be able to walk. This little girl endured so much, and her life was nothing but normal. Neighbors would not let their kids drink out of her parent’s water glasses or hang out at her house because they did not want their children to “catch” her sickness.
This little girl eventually went into remission, but her parents were told that she needed to have spinal and cranial radiation to kill any leftover cancer cells. The radiation caused her to lose all her hair, and with no children’s wigs available, she had to wear an oversized adult wig that scratched her sensitive scalp. Women passed the girl and her mother, making comments that her mother was psycho for shaving her daughter’s hair. On her first picture day in kindergarten, the photographers told her that she did not need a comb like the rest of the kids because she was bald, and she even looked to her mom with teary eyes and asked, “Will my daddy still love me?”
Through all of the adversity and poor prognosis, the little girl survived. She beat the odds and ended up conquering every other milestone in life, and in 1996 she gave birth to her own little girl; that little girl was me.
Growing up, my mom always taught me to put others before myself. She is the epitome of a selfless woman, and I owe all that I am today to this amazingly kind and bright mother of mine. She lights up any room with her presence and kind heart. Today she is a 6th grade teacher, and through the years she has had students diagnosed with leukemia and other debilitating diseases. She has gone out of her way to drive to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis to simply say hi and give a hug. She has orchestrated a school parade to send a student off to receive his bone marrow transplant, complete with police cars and fire trucks, and she has spent countless hours after school Skyping or tutoring students in the hospital so that they do not fall behind in school. Even when the news station came to interview her, she called me saying she was embarrassed because she never does anything to get recognition; she does it out of the kindness of her heart and truly wants nothing in return. To say this woman is the strongest and most giving woman in the world would be an understatement; she is my biggest role model.
Having a mother like her means I’ve grown up learning to love others more than myself. As I sit here and realize that I am one year away from graduating nursing school and becoming a registered nurse, I am surer with each passing day that I am meant to be a pediatric nurse to help kiddos, like my mom, fight for their lives. It will be difficult, but I know that I can be a bright light in their lives, just as my mom is in my life.
It is because of her that I traveled in Cincinnati last weekend to hand make princess wigs out of yarn for little cancer fighters. After hearing my mom’s story, I do not want any little girl or boy to ever feel the way she felt. Hair is something many of us take for granted, and it becomes part of our identity. For these little fighters, they deserve to feel like royalty. Little girls battling cancer are like princesses: beautiful and strong warriors. They should never feel like anything less. It is for kids, like my mom, that I make these wigs so that they can always feel special. The Magic Yarn Project has brought so much joy to so many little warriors, and my six wigs that I made last weekend will be delivered to six joyous little girls.
Without my mom, this world would be much different. God sure knew what He was doing when He chose me to be my mother’s daughter. I’m thankful for her not just today, but every day.
