Boy Reads Book Written By Mum With Cancer That 'Will Never Go Away' In Emotional Video
Boy Reads Book Written By Mum With Cancer That 'Will Never Go Away' In Emotional Video
Amy Packham— The Huffington Post UK
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A mother with terminal cancer wrote a book to explain the condition to her son - and captured the moment he read it out loud to her in an emotional video.
Donna Penny, 42, from Australia, was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago. She wrote 'Why My Mummy?' from the perspective of her nine-year-old son Kai.
"The doctors have told my mummy that her cancer will never go away," Kai can be heard reading in the video. ""My mummy has to spend a lot of time in hospital but she always comes home.
"I love you mummy"
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Kai Penny gets tearful when reading the book out loud
Penny said she explored both the emotional and physical journey that cancer brings to each family in the book.
She initially found a lump in her breast when she was 30 years old, but said at the time a mammogram didn't show up anything.
At 35, Penny was diagnosed with early stages of breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. Her cancer has now spread to her lymph nodes, spine, shoulder and other parts of her body.
Se searched for books in shops that would help explain cancer to her son, but said she could only find ones that were "too morbid".
Because of this, Penny decided to write her own book from the perspective of a child.
She said she wanted the book to be "beautiful and bright" and not something that parents would want to steer away from if they were faced with this problem themselves.
Penny's book follows her journey from being diagnosed to going through chemotherapy.
Penny said her son had inspired the title of the book.
"I didn't have a name for the book and my husband was driving Kai to school one day and he said: 'Out of all the mummies in the world, why my mummy?'" Penny said.
Copies of the book will be donated to hospitals, schools and libraries in Australia so it's easy to find for families dealing with cancer.
Penny said 10% of all profits will go to the Mummy's Wish charity in Australia, which supports families with mums receiving cancer treatment.
"A new painless, firm breast lump with irregular margins is a potential symptom of breast cancer," says Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, a breast cancer researcher at the Mayo Clinic. "The cancer diagnosis is confirmed following a biopsy of the lump." She notes that usually, women who are newly diagnosed with breast cancer are healthy and don't feel sick at all. (credit:LarsZahnerPhotography via Getty Images)
Other Symptoms(02 of10)
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Another potential symptom/sign of breast cancer, Pruthi notes, is a new onset of persistent redness on the skin overtop the breast with an orange peel appearance. This would also need a biopsy to confirm a diagnosis of breast cancer. (credit:Image Source via Getty Images)
Metastatic Cancer Symptoms(03 of10)
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"If the cancer is very advanced (metastatic) then the symptoms may also include weight loss, bone pain, headaches, nausea and persistent cough," Pruthi says. (credit:pamela burley via Getty Images)
What Are The Risk Factors?(04 of10)
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Some commonly associated risk factors, Pruthi says, are menstruation before age 11, menstruation after age 54, a first pregnancy after age 35 and a family history of relatives diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer. (credit:AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Are There Any Lifestyle Risk Factors?(05 of10)
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"There is evidence in the literature that obesity after menopause, lack of regular exercise, consuming greater than more or more alcoholic beverages daily, and a high fat diet can all be associated with a higher breast cancer risk," Pruthi notes. But, she points out, "women need to know that any woman can get breast cancer even in the absence of any of these risk factors." (credit:Adrian Samson via Getty Images)
Can I Eat Anything To Prevent It?(06 of10)
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There are no specific types of diets, Pruthi says, but rather women are encouraged to eat fruits, vegetables, fibre, and minimize their alcohol and fat intake, as well as get regular exercise. (credit:lola1960 via Getty Images)
How Do Doctors Determine Treatment?(07 of10)
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"The most current treatment of breast cancer has taken on a individualized approach and is dependent on the biology or aggressive features of the breast cancer," Pruthi explains. "Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and this means that are many sub-types and different degrees of aggressiveness. So staging, which typically takes into account common prognostic features such as tumour size and if lymph nodes are involved, are no longer the only factors doctors use to determine treatment options." (credit:Christopher Futcher via Getty Images)
So What Do They Look At?(08 of10)
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"Today the biology of the tumour is also characterized by molecular markers (also known as predictive markers) such as if the estrogen or progesterone receptor is positive or negative and if the HER 2 protein is positive or negative," she says. "This helps decide who will benefit from a specific chemotherapy regimen, hormonal medications known as antiestrogens or who may need both chemotherapy and hormonal treatment." (credit:BluePlanetEarth via Getty Images)
What About Preventative Mastectomies?(09 of10)
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"Preventive mastectomy is an option for women at very high risk for developing breast cancer because they are BRCA 1 or 2 gene positive or if someone has hereditary predisposition to getting breast cancer but chooses not to have the genetic testing done," Pruthi says. "It is prudent that women who are considering this surgery know their family history in detail. Based on the moderate or strong family history, your doctor would recommend you meet with a genetic counselor to go over the family pedigree and help decide who should test for the breast cancer gene, when to test and how to interpret the genetic test results before proceeding with this preventive surgery." (credit:Jesús Jaime Mota via Getty Images)
Are Other Preventative Treatments Available?(10 of10)
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"High risk women who have had precancerous breast biopsies or strong family history may also be eligible to take preventive medications such as tamoxifen, raloxifene or exemestane to reduce breast cancer risk," Pruthi adds. (credit:art-4-art via Getty Images)