07/26/2025
During Noey's leukemia treatment, I took a picture of her hospital bands to show the remarkable resilience of a child with cancer. Here is the most recent pile. I'm missing about 15 of them due to random unforeseen instances, such as Noey ripping them off crying, or they get lost between the hospital and home.
I've held this in for so long it has become unhealthy for me to do so. I unfortunately had a "friend" tell me, after we had just come home from the hospital with Noey's diagnosis that "My daughter wasn't the only one in the hospital, her daughter was there overnight due to her psoriasis and she didn't get any community support." I won't say that I know Anything about psoriasis other than that it is a skin condition. I'm not here to argue that her child may have been in the hospital for it...... BUT to compare an overnight stay to THIS is unfathomable! I'm still in disbelief that anyone would have said that to me, but to say it about my child's suffering because she didn't get community support, is beyond anything I can think a person would do. I wish I was making this up! God, I really do! It's been almost 3 years since that statement was said to me and it still stings like I heard it today. Needless to say, that "friend " and I are not friends, nor have we be since that statement was made. I wish I had a smart comeback at the time to say to them, but all I could do was stare at them in disbelief and ask if their daughter was alright. I have replayed this moment in my head since then, and wonder why I asked about their daughter or why I didn't just completely lose it at that moment? I have no answer for those questions, and though I wish I could go back and respond differently, I know I wouldn't have. I would have said the same thing, because the children are all that matter in these cases! I felt completely crushed a "friend " would say that to me, but it was their child and mine that were important.
Noey is still adding bands to this pile every time she goes to the clinic. We will get to a point where she won't add anymore, but for now, I wanted to show the world what life with cancer looks like and to let anyone going through the same thing to know....
"You're not alone, and even if you have people say some awful things to you, it is because they don't know how to act in the situation. Though it can be hard to shake off something like that, please know that you matter, and though that one person may have a different opinion, there is an army behind you that would disagree with them. "
I have kept every letter, picture, card, comforting poster, EVERYTHING from Noey's Journey so far through leukemia. Below are 2 pictures of a small portion of love from Noey's Army. The boxes you see are all cards! 🥰 Thank you all for EVERYTHING you've done for our little warrior 💛
