A Mother's Plea
- Andrea Brady spoke in front of Parliament revealing that her daughter Jessica 27, requested an in-person visit 20 times before her stage IV cancer diagnosis.
- It was not until Jessica began to develop large glands in her neck that she secured an in-person visit, and she was soon diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma.
- Andrea is now asking medical workers to take better care of individuals between the ages of 25 and 49 saying that their cancer fears are often overlooked.
Andrea Brady appeared in front of Parliament to demand better cancer care for individuals between 25 and 49, like her daughter Jessica who was diagnosed with stage IV adenocarcinoma.
Read MoreIt was not until Jessica began to develop large glands in her neck that an in-person visit was granted, but Andrea said that the doctor assured her it was not cancer.
Andrea, who had watched her daughter’s health deteriorate over the course of five months, then paid for her daughter to see a specialist, who performed a biopsy. The two went together to get the results, learning that not only did Jessica have stage IV cancer, but she would need to be admitted immediately and placed on oxygen. There were no treatment options available.
"Jess was a very gentle, sweet person, but she really did attribute her late diagnosis to the slow reaction of her [doctor],” said Andrea while speaking in front of the Health and Social Care Committee. "I think the most important thing is we feel, and Jess felt that no one listened, no one took it seriously, and more than anything, she needed a permitted face-to-face appointment really early on, with people making notes.”
Instead, Jessica was admitted to the hospital the day she was diagnosed and passed away less than four weeks later.
“What can I say to express how I feel at Jess leaving? The gnawing emptiness of her going, my dearest, precious girl. My world has stopped, yet the hands of time beat ruthlessly on,” said Andrea. “The world still turns, and I want to halt it, to hush it. The rawness of waking in the morning to the realization she is no longer here, the cruelty of closing my eyes at night knowing another day has passed. Heartache is real, and so is heartbreak.”
How One Daughter Coped With Grief After Mother’s Stage IV Cancer Death
Nicole Cundiff lost her mom to stage IV ovarian cancer and, much like Andrea Brady, was forced to watch as she rapidly deteriorated in her final weeks.
“Before my mom passed away, somebody had told me that I would never get over it. And I didn’t really know what that meant until she actually did pass away,” Cundiff tells SurvivorNet in a previous interview. “And I realize now that there are some things in life that happen that you never get over. And losing someone you love, and more importantly, someone who loves you that much is one of those things.”
Cundiff says that she and her two sisters keep the mother’s memory alive and are so grateful for how she prepared them with the skills they needed for life.
“And we’re forever thankful for that, but not having her here is something that I’ll never get over. We still grieve for missed moments,” explains Cundiff. “My kids grieve for a grandma that they never really got to know, and so it’s something we live with, but it’s something that will hurt forever.”
Dealing With Grief After a Cancer Diagnosis
SN & You Mother-Daughter Bond
The unbreakable mother-daughter bond is the focus of a new SurvivorNetTV offering, SN & You Mother-Daughter Bond.
The documentary follows Erica Stolper and her mother, Melissa Berry. Erica was just 7 when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and the two quickly found a somewhat unlikely way to bond.
The day that Melissa decided to shave her head, she asked Erica, who was obsessed with becoming a hairdresser, to help with her new buzz cut.
"It was the first big step that she really took in her whole journey," recalled Erica in a previous interview with SurvivorNet.
"It was cool to be a part of it with her," she says.
SN & You Mother-Daughter Bond
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