'If your loved ones need you now, be there for them. Science will be waiting when you return.' A researcher was finishing her PhD when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She writes about her experience in one of our top 2021 ScienceWorkingLife essays:
I couldn't believe my luck. It was December 2018, I was finishing up my Ph.D. in the United Kingdom, and a professor whose work I admired had invited me to interview for a postdoc position in his lab in Japan. I was excited about experiencing a completely different research environment. The Zoom interview, during my holiday visit to my family in Spain, went well. Until this stage of my life, every year had been better than the last, and I was sure 2019 would be the same.
A week later, the doctors had an update: They had found a shadow on the x-ray. It was lung cancer. I spent the next 2 months torn between my research and my family as I submitted my thesis and prepared for my defense, scheduled for mid-July, while my mother started radiation and immunotherapy treatment. My Ph.D. supervisor encouraged me to take all the time I needed to be with my mom, and I made three short visits home. But my expectations for myself pulled me back to lab.
But on my way to the airport, I crumbled. Instead of New Zealand, I flew back to Madrid. Soon after, it was confirmed: The cancer was stage 4, it was everywhere, and it was unstoppable. My mother had 1 or 2 years left, the doctors said.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bensalem Police ID Human Remains as Woman Who Went Missing in 1992On September 18, 1995, police found her skeletal remains in a wooded area behind the Club House Diner on Street Road in Bensalem. The victim was unclothed and wrapped in a plastic tarp.
Read more »
Volkswagen ID 3 2021 long-term review | AutocarDoes the ID 3 electric family hatchback have the versatility to be Volkswagen’s new people’s car? We're finding out over the next few months
Read more »
Volkswagen ID.3 Review 2021The ID.3 was already our reigning small electriccar champion, but now VW has refreshed the line-up in an effort to make it even more appealing.
Read more »
How to Stay Healthy When Everyone in Your House Is SickWe've got the tips and tricks to help you stay healthy when everyone around you is under the weather.
Read more »
Infamous NJ’s mom conviction in 1991 death of son gets tossedNew Jersey’s top court Tuesday tossed out the conviction of a mom in the 1991 death of her 5-year-old son — one of the state’s previously longest-running cold cases.
Read more »