A Mother Advocates For Cancer Patients After the Death of Her Daughter
- Jessica Brady started feeling unwell in the summer of 2020 and was forced to have virtual consultations with her doctors, which resulted in a Long COVID diagnosis
- The young woman, 27, started to feel increasingly worse over the next five months but was refused an in-person visit because of the COVID lockdown.
- She was admitted to the hospital in November and passed away less than a month later from stage IV adenocarcinoma that had spread throughout her body.
According to her mother, Andrea, Jessica Brady started feeling unwell in the summer of 2020. With in-person visits not an option because of the COVID lockdown, the young woman was forced to have virtual consultations with her doctors.
Read More“We discovered that Jess had stage 4 adenocarcinoma with an unknown primary. It had spread throughout her body, to her spine, liver, stomach, lungs, and lymph nodes,” says Andrea.
“We are obviously devastated. Our world has been shattered.”
Adenocarcinoma is aggressive cancer found in the secretory cells that line the body’s organs and release mucus, digestive juices, and other fluids.
Andrea quickly decided to channel the pain and incredible loss she was experiencing into something positive.
She is now advocating for more focus and attention to be paid to individuals between the ages of 25 and 49, who she says account for 10% of cases but do not get the same level of cancer care as older patients.
“Despite being too young to be ignored, they often are. They are the forgotten generations,” explains Andrea. “Too old for their diagnosis to be truly shocking and too young to be deemed at serious risk. COVID is undoubtedly exacerbating the situation.”
Her advocacy paid off in a big way this week when Andrea was invited to speak in front of Parliament as part of a Health Select Committee meeting.
“The focus is on Cancer Services and the importance of early diagnosis. I will represent Jess, telling her story, as well as the stories many of you have shared, regarding the devastating loss of your family and friends,” Andrea said ahead of the meeting on Tuesday. “I hope this will take us one step closer to achieving essential changes for our future generations.”
How One Daughter Coped With Grief After Mother’s Cancer Death
Nicole Cundiff lost her mom to ovarian cancer and, much like Andrea Brady, was forced to watch as she rapidly deteriorated in her final weeks.
“Before my mom passed away, somebody had told me that I would never get over it. And I didn’t really know what that meant until she actually did pass away,” Cundiff tells Survivor Net.
“And I realize now that there are some things in life that happen that you never get over. And losing someone you love, and more importantly, someone who loves you that much is one of those things.”
Cundiff says that she and her two sisters keep the mother’s memory alive and are so grateful for how she prepared them with the skills they needed for life.
“And we’re forever thankful for that, but not having her here is something that I’ll never get over. We still grieve for missed moments,” explains Cundiff. “My kids grieve for a grandma that they never really got to know, and so it’s something we live with, but it’s something that will hurt forever.”
Dealing With Grief After a Cancer Diagnosis
SN & You Mother-Daughter Bond
The unbreakable mother-daughter bond is the focus of a new SurvivorNetTV offering, SN & You Mother-Daughter Bond.
The documentary follows Erica Stolper and her mother, Melissa Berry. Erica was just 7 when her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and the two quickly found a somewhat unlikely way to bond.
The day that Melissa decided to shave her head, she asked Erica, who was obsessed with becoming a hairdresser, to help with her new buzz cut.
"It was the first big step that she really took in her whole journey," recalled Erica in a previous interview with SurvivorNet.
"It was cool to be a part of it with her," she says.
SN & You Mother-Daughter Bond
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