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    My Side of the Story
    My Side of the Story
    My Side of the Story
    Ebook119 pages57 minutes

    My Side of the Story

    By Jessica D. Stafford

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    About this ebook

    In 2002, seven-year-old Jessica Stafford was a typical second-gradera girl with long, beautiful, brown hair, big, blue eyes, and lots of friends. She was just finishing the school year and was looking forward to a fun-filled summer. But for a few weeks, she had been experiencing severe headaches, and doctors discovered a tumor the size of a walnut at the base of her skull. She was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a rare, malignant tumor that occurs in the cerebellum, the part of the brain that controls coordination, memory, and equilibrium. Thus began Jessicas journey through a cancer diagnosis.

    In My Side of the Story, Jessica shares the narrative of how she and her family endured the battle with cancer, from the diagnosis to dangerous surgery to radiation and chemotherapy treatments. With diary entries included, Jessica reveals what it was like to be a young cancer victim. She also tells how she was the recipient of a wish from the national Make-A-Wish organization to Disney and how she was able to meet George Jones, her favorite country singer.

    Now twenty years old, Jessica describes her hard-fought battle with cancer. She is evidence that miracles do happen, that God does exist, and he does answer prayers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchway Publishing
    Release dateMar 6, 2015
    ISBN9781480815438
    My Side of the Story
    Author

    Jessica D. Stafford

    Jessica Stafford is a student at a local community college where she is earning a degree in history. She is twenty years old and lives in Spring Hill, Tennessee, with her family. She enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her dog Harley.

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      Book preview

      My Side of the Story - Jessica D. Stafford

      Copyright © 2015 Jessica D. Stafford.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Archway Publishing

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.archwaypublishing.com

      1 (888) 242-5904

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4808-1542-1 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4808-1541-4 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4808-1543-8 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2015902891

      Archway Publishing rev. date: 03/04/15

      Contents

      Chapter 1 My Story

      Chapter 2 The Call

      Chapter 3 Life Before

      Chapter 4 A Year of Misfortune

      Chapter 5 Why Am I Having Headaches?

      Chapter 6 Meeting the Neurosurgeon

      Chapter 7 Treatments

      Chapter 8 Growth Hormones

      Chapter 9 Make a Wish

      Chapter 10 You Gotta Eat!

      Chapter 11 No More Chemo

      Chapter 12 More Cancer in the Family

      Chapter 13 Back to School

      Chapter 14 The Move

      Chapter 15 Please God, Not Again

      Chapter 16 Going Home

      Chapter 17 The Biopsy

      Chapter 18 What Do We Do Now?

      Chapter 19 Face the Facts

      Chapter 20 Graduation

      Chapter 21 Starting College

      Chapter 22 A Summer to Remember

      Chapter 23 A Happy Ending

      CANCER

      Before I had it, I never knew.

      I can’t get that, can this be true?

      You have cancer, that’s what they said.

      Without surgery soon, you could be dead.

      They removed the tumor from my brainstem,

      Just as you would a leaf from a limb.

      All sorts of treatments that made me sick.

      I didn’t choose this; I didn’t pick.

      It’s like the flu, two years straight through.

      The side effects were more than a few.

      I lost every hair upon my head.

      They all just lay there on my bed.

      Struggling through, I saw the light.

      You better bet, I fought my fight.

      It’s over now; I’m as good as new.

      As for the world, I have a different view.

      Cancer took two years of my life

      And caused me lots of trouble and strife.

      Life goes by, in the blink of an eye.

      Just be happy, no time to cry.

      You’d never think your life could go

      Just as quickly as the winter’s snow.

      And now with each breath I take,

      A difference in the world I’ll make.

      So like a bluebird flying high,

      I’ll spread my wings and off I’ll fly,

      Forevermore into the sky.

      —Jessica Stafford

      DEDICATION AND SPECIAL THANKS

      I WOULD LIKE TO dedicate this book in loving memory to all those who have lost their battles to cancer. This includes my grandfather who passed away on December 4 th 2014 after battling multiple myeloma; he never got the opportunity to read my book.

      I would like to give a special thanks to Leonard Wolfenbarger and all those in LWC for proofreading, and giving helpful advice along the way.

      Thanks Mom and Dad for having faith in me and encouraging me to finish what I started.

      All poems not identified are written by Jessica Stafford.

      CHAPTER 1

      My Story

      E VERYONE HAS A STORY to tell. Every story has different sides, depending on for whom it is being told. Stories get told from one person to the next, and many times the stories’ details change along the way. Many people have heard the story I’m about to tell. It’s been told by people I’ve never met, but it’s never been told by me. As you read, keep in mind that although I am telling the narrative of my life, I’m telling this story for God because I want to share with the world what he has done for me, and maybe somewhere along the way, a lost soul might find its way home.

      Cancer is a horrible, heinous disease. Throughout my life I have not only watched many friends and loved ones suffer through the harsh battle of cancer, but I have also battled it myself. I consider myself lucky—or maybe that’s not the right word to use. You see, it’s not by luck that my life was spared, but by the will of God. My name is Jessica Stafford, and my battle isn’t over yet.

      According to the American Cancer Society, in 2014 in the United States, there will be an estimated 1,665,540 new cancer cases diagnosed and 585,720 cancer deaths. Cancer remains the second most common cause of death in the United States, accounting for nearly one of every four deaths. Sometimes we don’t realize how fortunate we are until the things we cherish most are taken away from us. In the blink of an eye, your life could be changed forever. Mine was.

      j5.jpg

      Jessica age 1 year Happy and healthy riding a tricycle

      September 1995

      No matter if you are young or old,

      Always be sure that your story is told.

      No one can tell your story but you.

      It wouldn’t be from your point of view.

      CHAPTER 2

      The Call

      T HE CALL CAME AT eight o’clock on a Monday morning in May of 2002—the call from Dr. B that Mom had been waiting for. She probably expected to hear that my headaches were caused by sinus problems. She had hoped that her worries would finally cease, and she could go on in her life as a mother, finding a more worthy cause to be troubled about. No matter how hard she had prayed and no matter how much she had hoped, nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to hear.

      I can imagine this is what she must’ve heard: Mrs. Stafford, I am calling with the results of the CT scan Jessica did. I am so sorry to tell you this, but it appears your daughter has a mass the size of a walnut at the base of her skull. I am truly sorry.

      Just like that, the phone was placed back on the receiver. Her eyes filled with tears, and she thought to herself, I’ve always heard about things like this, but I never in a million years could have imagined that it would happen to one of my children.

      Following that morning, I spent many days in doctors’ offices and hospitals, receiving chemo and radiation. Added to that are all the surgeries I’ve had. Believe

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