Since there isn't a ton for me to report, I asked my friend Jill to blog about what this experience has done for her and to her life. You are all know by now that I don't consider this my fight, but our fight together; and I know Jill and her family is right on the front lines fighting for me. I love their family. They would do absolutely anything for us and we would do the same. I consider her like a sister and I consider her the 2nd mom to Camden. She is an amazingly strong support and always there to lift my spirits. She is one of my inspirations and my reminders of why I have to win this fight.
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My name is Jill and not only am I one of Nicole’s best friends but also her next door neighbor. Over 3 years ago I never thought I would meet such an amazing family and become so close to them. So when Nicole was diagnosed with breast cancer I just didn’t want to believe it. How could we go from nights were we would watching TV with our glasses of wine rolling our eyes at our husbands, or sitting out on the lawn with our kids playing in the pool to tears and talking about cancer. This just couldn’t be happening and I still can’t believe it.
I remember when Nicole first told me she had found a lump. I hoped and prayed it would be nothing so the day Nicole found out that she had cancer I was devastated. I remember being at work, trying to keep busy, and not thinking about the possible outcome. When I got home from work that night, I had just walked in the door and my husband told me that we needed to go next door. My heart sank. Mike said “Well, maybe she’s pregnant.” I told him “You don’t get tested for breast cancer and come out pregnant.” We walked in their house and Nicole handed us a beer and I could tell by the look in Nicole’s eyes that the outcome wasn’t good. All I could say was “No.” That night we talked, cried and I tried to be strong. That night I cried and laid awake praying that my friend and her family would be okay.
This isn’t the first time that cancer has had in impact on my life. When I was very young my mother passed away from thyroid cancer. My dad remarried and my mom today is the only mom I know, but there is always the thought in the back of my mind about what my birth mom was like. This was one of the thoughts that went through my mind when Nicole told me; I hoped that Camden wouldn’t have to go through life without his mom and the wonder of not knowing her and what she was like.
Seeing Nicole and her family go through this has been the hardest thing that I’ve had to deal
with. To see your friend go through this when she has a family and a son of her own is very difficult. I’ve wanted to take away all the pain and hurt that Nicole and her family have been
going through, but I can’t so I’ve tried to help out where ever I could; whether it’s helping with Camden, making dinner, being there for Nicole when she needed to talk or just spending time with them trying to have life back to normal.
As many of you know, Nicole is now on her second round of Chemo treatment. I’ve noticed a lot in the past few weeks. Nicole is Nicole again. Her first round of treatment was very difficult. To see her sleepy and barely able to do anything for even a short period of time was difficult. It was hard to watch her go through this and know that there is nothing you can do to help. But during this second round, I can say that Nicole is making a comeback. It is wonderful to see her smile and laugh again, have a drink with her, spend time outside with our kids. The one day that I knew that Nicole was going to make it through this was last weekend. We had decided to do a joint garden with all the veggies that we love. The husbands were going to try and attempt to smoke some ribs. It was wonderful to see Nicole sitting in the sun, talking and laughing with us and our other neighbor, but the best part of it was when Nicole and I got to cook together in the kitchen. We had so much fun and it was wonderful to be able to stand beside my friend and cook. That is the moment that I knew my friend was going to fight this and win.
Nicole, you mean so much to everyone. You are an amazing mother, wife, sister, daughter,
friend to many of us. You and your story have impacted so many of us in so many different
ways. You are an incredible and amazing woman. I look forward to the day when we will be little old ladies sitting on our chairs in the sun, probably still rolling our eyes at our husbands, with our glasses of wine watching our children and their families celebrating many, many, many years of being cancer free. We love you!
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