Like most middle children of the world, I felt a compelling need to prove to myself that I could get through treatment with relatively little help. Early after my diagnosis, I made it clear to my Mom that I was going to get through treatment the way I wanted. I didn't want anyone to tell me what to eat, how late to stay up, whether I could go to the store, or when to take my pills.
I needed to believe that I relied on no one but myself to get better.
So, you can understand my apprehension when my mother told me she was planning on attending a seminar on Chemotherapy and Nutritional Healing. I feared for what rules and stipulations she might bring back for me, but my Mom promised she was going solely for her own knowledge, and wouldn't make an attempt to govern my recovery.
One short week later, my Mom arrived at my apartment with two bottles of pills - cod liver and evening primrose oils. Casually, as she outlined their benefits, she instructed me to take three of each every morning. Naturally, an argument ensued as I stubbornly refused to take three - one pill of each would suffice - and my mother maintained that three would be beneficial.
Since that day back in November, I've continued to take my cod liver oil and evening primrose oil every morning. I have no idea how much they helped my body recover from chemotherapy treatments, but I do know I wouldn't have taken either had she not gone through the trouble of going to the seminar and buying those vitamins for me.
Going into treatment, I was bent on doing it all on my own. But now, I'm grateful for having a mother strong-willed enough to know when to ignore her middle daughter's requests, and to get the job done right. The first time.
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