Moms put their kids first, usually to the detriment of their own well-being. One wise pediatrician was not having this. When Laura Hendricks, who was 40 years old at the time, took her kids to the doctor for colds, the appointment quickly became about her. The pediatrician urged her to go to her own doctor because she looked off.
Laura followed the pediatrician's advice and made her own appointment. It is good that she did because Laura ended up having an aggressive form of cancer, acute myeloid leukemia. Surviving it was one of the hardest things she ever had to do and now she is working to help others do the same.
Laura had gotten home from a business trip to London when the kids came down with colds. She thought she might have one as well and brushed it off to take care of the kids. When she took them to the doctor, the pediatrician noticed she was not looking so good. “She really stopped me middle of the sentence and said, ‘What’s going on with you?’ and I was really taken aback that she was focusing on me, rather than the kids,” Laura recalled. “I said, ‘Well, I’m really tired and I think I’m coming down with what they’re coming down with.’”
Laura tried to tell the pediatrician she was just tired but the doctor would not let it go. “She challenged me again and said, ‘No, your coloring doesn’t look right. Let me see your hands,’” Laura explains. “She looked at them and said, ‘I think you should have some bloodwork done.”
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Laura’s mother made sure she followed through and made herself an appointment with her doctor. She was with Laura at the time. “She said, 'I’m not leaving until you make your appointment that the pediatrician wanted you to make because I think something might be wrong,'” Laura recalls.
After getting her blood test results, Laura’s doctor called her and told her to go to the ER. “I asked my doctor, ‘What is this about?’ and she said, ‘You need a blood transfusion,’” Laura recalls. It wasn’t until she reached the hospital they told her she had acute myeloid leukemia.
Laura started treatment that day and would spend seven months in the hospital. “Because it’s so aggressive, you’re admitted to the hospital that day to start treatment as quickly as possible,” she explains. “That was extremely overwhelming.”
While receiving treatment, Laura worried about the future and being around to see her kids grow up. “[I] had all those feelings that probably every mom or parent can relate to having — a complete and utter fear of not being able to be their mom,” she recalls. “What if I don’t see them growing up? What if I don’t see them go to high school and get married? What if I am not going to be here?”
Through her intense chemotherapy and stem cell transplant, Laura was determined to survive. “I had that mentality that I was going to be a survivor,” she says. “What rooted me to survival … was my children and my husband and my family. Truly, I wanted to be their mom for the rest of their lives.” Laura has been cancer-free for five years.
Surviving cancer came with its own set of challenges. Laura was grateful but the experience was traumatic. She and her husband Brock made sure she got enough sleep, ate healthy, practiced gratitude, and processed her emotions. They wanted to help others so they created an organization called Luminaries, which gives cancer survivors self-care packages and tips on thriving.
“Everyone should have access to a world-class, science-backed program that helps guide you in survivorship in the same way you are guided during treatment,” Laura says. “One of the hardest things in survivorship is how do you get up every day and take the next step forward on your own?”
She adds, “All I want to do is make survivorship easier for other people.”
*Disclaimer: The advice on LittleThings is not a substitute for consultation with a medical professional or treatment for a specific condition. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem without consulting a qualified professional. Please contact your health-care provider with questions and concerns.
