According to Medicalnewstoday.com, 1 in 2 women and 1 and 3 men will have cancer in their lifetime. All of these cancer warriors are mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. This was the reality for Lake Shore sophomore Beau DeTar when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. 

Beau DeTar’s mother, Rachael Norman, was diagnosed last year in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic. DeTar had to put a lot of her own hobbies and activities aside to take care of her mom. Being an only child and in the middle of a pandemic, she had to become a personal nurse and learn to run a home. 

“Instead of just coming home and relaxing I had to prep three meals for the day and about five times a day I had to fit in changing her lymph node bags…so, it definitely interrupted my schedule,” DeTar explained. 

Going through this hardship together strengthened their relationship. Solely because they were spending so much time together, their bond grew stronger. DeTar was happy to take care of her mom, and it made her appreciate all the things her mom has done for her over the years. 

Detar explained, “The hardest part was seeing my mom so unhappy with herself even after because it just wasn’t the same anymore.”

Every day, DeTar had to live with the reality that her active, happy and healthy mother was going through one of the hardest things someone could deal with. Her mom is someone who is always doing something, having a good time, and looking for the positive in things. Now, she is stuck at home battling breast cancer, going through a pandemic, and having her 13 year old daughter take care of her. 

Even though things were hard, DeTar stated, “Just remember that it’s going to work out. Positivity really helps. I found that my mom did a lot better on days she was happy than when she was feeling down about herself…don’t think of the worst case scenario.”

Even though Norman is doing much better now, it still affects the family today. DeTar said, “I’m in therapy now just to help deal with the anxiety that it might come back and some of the other things that came along with it.”