The last short film depicted in the Lifetime movie “Five” went back to that little girl Pearl from the first movie about her losing her mother. Pearl became an oncologist specializing in the treatment of women’s cancer. She lost her mother at a time when breast cancer was not discussed. She was the oncologist for Mia, Lili and Cheyenne.
When her daughter was about the age she was when her mother lost her battle with cancer Pearl herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had to decide what she should tell her daughter and how she would tell her. She is a doctor who is used to telling patients that they have cancer but the reality of having to tell her own daughter that she had cancer is overwhelming. She did not want to give too much information but also did not want to say nothing like her mother did many years ago.
Now one of the scenes that brought me to even more tears was when Pearl was home from surgery and her daughter went to see her in her room and was afraid to hug her so she would not hurt her mother. When I had all my surgeries this was one of the things that my kids dealt with and when I saw the little girl with those big brown eyes looking at her mother it reminded me of when I was going through it all. Her daughter asked a question that I was very lucky I never had to answer; she asked her mother if she was going to die. I dreaded that conversation if it ever came up and so far so good no one has asked.
I read lots of books on what to tell your child if you have cancer. They all say that you should never tell your child that you won’t die but don’t tell them that you are until the very end.
The movie ended on a positive note by having Pearl hit her 5 year cancer free mark. I hit my 5 year mark December 29, 2010 and it is a big day for a cancer survivor. There are no guarantees that the cancer will not come back. No matter if you have your breast removed, undergo chemo and radiation the cancer can still come back and you never know if and when it will reappear. The only thing we can do is hope for another 5 years cancer free and hope that by the time our kids are grown that they won’t have to deal with breast cancer.