10 Powerful Lessons from My Son’s Cancer

Originally published in beliefnet

“Carcinoma.”

We don’t remember much of what the doctor said. The c-word obliterated everything else.

We thought it was just a lesion. After all, Aaron was 15. Yeah, some kids develop cancer, but not ours. That happens to other people. Add to this the fact that Aaron’s biological father died of Pancreatic cancer and you can imagine what we might have been going through our minds.

The next three months were a blur. Phone calls. Emails. Appointments. Exams. Scans and blood work. More-extensive-than-expected surgery. And, because of where we live, all of this was two hours away. Back and forth, over and over.

Then there was all the usual stuff. Our other kids. School. Work. Church. Relationships. We tried to keep things as “normal” as possible, while in our hearts and minds life was anything but routine.