Dear Mum,

On November 5, 2012 I sent you a text message stating. “Hi Mum, I am not well. I think I have a chronic disease. Don’t worry, it is not HIV!”

You were stunned and immediately called me. I burst into tears on the phone and could not talk as I sobbed away. You immediately jumped into your car and drove over to my house. Thank God we only live minutes apart as I am sure your heart was racing. When you came over, you found me still in bed, curtains closed and my room dark. That’s how I felt, like darkness had descended on my life. You sat by my bed and hugged me tight, and I immediately felt like everything was going to be alright.

I didn’t know how else to break the news to you. I had not shared my diagnosis with anyone for a week since my initial visit to the doctor, and it was killing me. That morning when I sent you the text message, I had been crying in bed the night before and I was not able to get out of bed to go to work.

I was scared to tell you that I was being tested for breast cancer and the diagnosis was leaning towards positive. I was not sure how you would take it considering your past history with this disease. You see, it was just over a year ago, on May 26, 2011 we lost your sister to breast cancer. Aunty Gladwell Mumbi was so close to you and that bond you had transcended to us. We loved her like our own mother and we watched you nurse her when she was ill. I watched you cry when she passed on and how much it pained you.

Mum, once again you have to deal with seeing someone close to you battle cancer. I know it must be hard for a mother to watch their child when they are ill, especially when it is a chronic illness. But do not despair; God would never give us a battle that we cannot win.

Mum, my prayer for you is one of hope. Hope to fill your heart.  Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me…I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. John 14:1-6

Love,

Your daughter.