H.O.P.E. 
Chest
When first faced with a diagnosis like cancer, rather if it is you personally, or your loved one, often you are faced with a multitude of emotions. I remember the day my husband was diagnosed with brain cancer so clearly. We didn’t expect it. He had been having some headaches, but we were thinking it was just migraines due to stress. We were just married under a year, he had started a new job, I had just been laid off from my job...it all made sense, it had to be migraines! I remember what we were wearing that day. I remember that the CAT scan machine wasn’t working so we were told we could reschedule, but instead we chose to go to another facility that was nearby. When we heard the results that there was a “mass” we looked at each other with fear. We were told if he had waited a month longer he would have died. We were only married 10 months and had so many dreams on the horizon. I felt frightened, overwhelmed, like I was in a dream at times, anger…I could go on. That day was April 26, 2005.
After the initial shock wore off, Mike and I were able to discuss how we were going to battle his disease, together. We almost developed an action plan. Here are the guidelines we established. (I'll go into more detail for each one individually and provide resources on each page).
My hope is that these pages will give insight of what worked for Mike, me and our families to help us live our lives each day. I realize everyone is different and some of these things may not work for you, but my hope is that there will be at least one thing that will be helpful to someone.
HOPE Chest
