Betsy Steele
lundi 20 mai 2013
Par : Jim Steele

A caring teacher by profession, but first and foremost a mom. Nothing meant more to her than her girls and she fought a losing battle, step by step, with grace and honour.

Betsy Steele, my wife, and the mother to our daughters Stephanie and Christi, was diagnosed with cancer in September of 2010. In just over a year, on October 17, 2011, she would lose our battle.

However, it is the strength which she showed during that process, that leaves the most meaning for her friends and family. She did not want to be labeled a "Survivor". She did so only with the thought that it was a stage to go through, to get to being healthy again.

The breast cancer was quite advanced. The treatments, to us, seemed almost medieval. You put your lives on hold and you fight. First chemotherapy. Then double mastectomy followed by months of radiation. It is a struggle, it is painful. Some days her greatest feat was to get her head off of her pillow. It is hard for a spouse and her children to live through it. However, her strength was above all. She maybe broke down five times in frustration during the process. I would have constantly been in emotional pieces.

We received good news and bad news on a seemingly endless basis. In the end, it was actually all bad, but we lived with HOPE - the only thing that gets you through a cancer battle.

So, this isn't a cheery "Let's do this" message. This is just one person's insight that has been too close to ever let this disease be ignored.

Give your time. Give your money.
This cannot continue. We need to find a way through Cancer. Fight Cancer.

Jim Steele