Father Sickness

7 Pages 1730 Words

I still remember, quite vividly, that one day about ten or eleven years ago. A family friend had just brought me and my sister home from an outing, and he was walking us into our house. I would soon discover that after walking through my white front doors, I would never be quite the same again - I would finally and completely realize the grave situation that would have the most influence on my life thereafter. Upon entering the house, I could smell a very sour and acrid odor emanating from the living room, and I could also hear a person groaning disconcertingly. As we walked slowly into the living room, a staggering sight met our eyes. There, lying face down on a couch, was my father, with an ashen-faced complexion. His head was completely bald, and his grisly figure appeared enervated. He was gasping for air, and then suddenly, without a warning, he grabbed a blue pan, put his face to it, and just vomited with such vehemence that it really shook me. Before this, I used to think words like "cancer", "tumor", "chemotherapy", etc. - were all terms describing a simple illness that went away as fast as the common cold. Upon seeing what was happening to my father, I then realized that colon cancer was neither quick nor painless, but rather agonizing and disturbing. After vomiting, my dad lifted his frail head up and uttered a weak "Hello," before vomiting even more. I looked at our friend, and I understood the look on his face. "Let's go to my house, Jeff," he said, "Let your dad rest - he has been fighting brave and hard."

My dad, my hero; the one whom I cherished and looked up to for love and guidance, was now battling for his life. His colon cancer was first detected in 1987, and for the next two years or so, things got worse as the illness became more and more malignant. The whole situation was then exacerbated by a series of debilitating surgeries and chemotherapy treatments. Because of this ordeal, my mom had to spend most of her ti...