Tami Hayes talks to her daughter, Dymond, about battling breast cancer as a single parent. Dymond was 13 at the time of Tami’s diagnosis.
Originally aired April 23, 2010, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Transcript
Dymond Hayes (DH): What did it feel like to hear that you had cancer?
Tami Hayes (TH): I was afraid that I hadn’t given you all you needed and that we hadn’t had enough time together.
DH: Were you surprised by my response?
TH: You reacted totally different than I thought. I thought that because I was hysterical you would be crying too. And I remember getting out of surgery and coming home, I’m bandaged up and I’m in all this pain. And it was me and you and there you were being a mom. I remember looking at you, you were handing me one trash can to throw up in and you were taking another one away and rinsing it out. And you just kept on and I kept thinking, ‘My God, she’s only thirteen.’ Then the next day I wake up to an empty house and I looked around thinking, ‘Where’s Dymond?’ And you had gone to school! My God, you had gotten yourself together and went to school after being up all night with me. But you, you never wavered, if you did, I never saw it, you never showed it to me. Where did you get the strength from?
DH: I remember all the times that I was sick and you would take care of me. You always were there so, you did it for me why wouldn’t I do it for you.
TH: You know Dymond I tell people everyday: ‘Dymond is the rock that holds us together.’ So when I talk about my journey it’s very hard for me to talk about it without imagining having shared this journey with you. You were always there for me and I love you more than life itself and I appreciate you sharing the journey with me.