@heyalexfriedman I didn’t understand at first because I was hopeful that my mom would beat PC. She went through chemo and fought hard. Six months after her diagnosis she end to heaven 🤍 We need to bring more awareness & research to this horrific cancer.
A year ago today my best friend Erika sent me and our other best friend this text message.
At the time we didn’t realize this moment would change our lives forever and 11 months later she would be gone. She was 31 years old and 34 weeks pregnant when diagnosed with stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer.
I remember this moment vividly. I was sitting on my phone watching TikTok after I had just posted a video. A minute before I was blissfully unaware of the complete shit show life would become.
I didn’t understand at first. I’ve never known anyone with cancer. When Erika told us, I thought it wasn’t a big deal. I thought it was something she could “just get scraped out”.
The few days that followed included me not eating or sleeping, sitting on the edge of my bed as I called in every favor I could to get Erika into a top hospital as she waited to be induced to give birth so they could start chemo immediately.
I took on the roll of being the messenger for our college friend group. I started a GoFundMe. I begged people for help on Twitter. I’ve never been so desperate for help and answers in my life.
Life is much more fragile than anyone wants to realize. Within moments Erika, and everyone who loves her, lives completely changed. A month since she’s passed and I miss her non stop. Not a second goes by that I don’t think about her. Even the way I exist in the world is completely different now.
I know that she’d want me to use my platform to bring awareness to pancreatic cancer, especially the way that many families still have a lack of answers and resources post-diagnosis. I hope to continue to do that. 💜
You don’t become overweight by over eating once
You don’t live paycheck to paycheck by overspending once
You don’t have bad credit by missing a payment once
You don’t have relationship issues by not communicating once
Your actions become habits
Your habits become your reality