A Tribute to Regina Holland
Regina was a wonderful, loving person. She enjoyed sewing, reading, shopping and completing jigsaw puzzles. She was a "tough cookie" and did not let anyone or anything stand in her way. She was a straight-to the-point type of person.
Regina was diagnosed with myxoid liposarcoma in 2006, and from that day forward she never let it be a burden on her. She never claimed the cancer, and she didn't like pity. She wanted people to be as positive as she was and didn't want anyone feeling sad for her.
Regina never complained about having the cancer. She had many goals: she wanted to sew and make jewelry and children's clothing. But her most important goal was to get that cancer out of her. She always said, "When I get this out of me, I'm going to do so many things. I just want this out of me because this is not going to get to me."
Regina started liposarcoma treatment in 2007. I can still remember our first time finding out exactly what she had. When the doctors finished talking she said, "Well, we have to do what we have to do. I'm ready to get started and get this taken care of." My mom had numerous types of treatments, and more treatments followed when the side effects bothered her. She would tell me when she was tired and needed to rest, but once she rested she was up the next day ready to go.
Even though I remember Mom receiving a lot of treatment, I remember us going places. We were always shopping and going out to eat. I can remember my mom cooking large meals for the holidays. At Christmas, we would get out there and go shopping for all the kids she could think of. My mom believed that no kid should be without a Christmas, and if she could she would have bought every kid in the world a Christmas gift. My mom rarely talked about having cancer because she did not believe in speaking about it and giving it life. She made her transition on September 5, 2012.
I think of my mother every single day. She has and will always be a part of me.
From me to my mommie: I miss you. I wake up every day and look for you. All we had was each other. It's always just been you and me, and I never thought you would leave me this soon. I never thought of just you fighting the cancer; we fought it together because I was right there with you, cheering on your strength with encouragement to fight. You were the toughest person I knew. You never gave cancer the satisfaction of ruining the positive spirited person you were. You lived life to the fullest; you never wasted a moment. You knew how to motivate others with your drive, and I admired you for motivation to help others and for your fight with cancer. You did not lose your battle; you just decided to rest. Everyone misses you, your three brothers, your nieces and nephews, your best friends and our cousins. Someone calls me every day just to see how I'm doing since your transition. We are having a special dinner for you on your birthday which happens to be on Thanksgiving this year. I am very glad that our family has come together and is much closer now, but I absolutely hate the circumstances that brought us together. If only you could see this great change within our family. I think you would be so proud of how everyone has reached out to me.
About the Research
Research on myxoid liposarcoma is so important to me because I don't want to see anyone go through what my mother went through. The physical changes she went through, the pain, the stress...I don't know how she did it. She was tough, and I never saw her any other way. I watched my mom change in the six years she had the liposarcoma. I watched her go from a very independent person to a totally dependent person, and it was hard. I wish that I could have taken her cancer away and fought it myself. It's a painful thing to watch someone remain so strong when you know she is truly suffering.
Please donate to help people like my mother who tried her best to keep going with her life. She tried to live as though nothing had changed. This disease is rare, and I believe that it can be stopped.
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