On 1 July, beloved food enthusiast Nara Smith shared the heartbreaking news on social media that her daughter, Whimsy, was diagnosed with cancer late last year.
NARA SMITH’S DAUGHTER DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER
In a 2:37 video, the mother of four explained that her decreased online presence is because they were dealing with Whimsy’s cancer diagnosis.
“There’s no easy way to say this or to talk about any of this, but late last year our daughter Whimsy got diagnosed with cancer,” she began.
Nara mentioned that they sought medical help after noticing something concerning about their daughter. She added that it was during this time that she suspected her daughter might have cancer.
“When we saw something suspicious on her we took her to the ER and they didn’t quite know what to make of it. So, when we took her to our pediatrician, I just remember him going really quiet and calm and my heart dropped in that moment,” she added.
“I don’t know whether it was my gut telling me something or just a mom’s intuition, but the first thing that I felt was [that] she has cancer,” she said.
After the doctor referred them to a children’s hospital for further evaluation, a devastating cancer diagnosis was confirmed, and treatment was quickly recommended.
“He calmly told us to take her to the closest children’s hospital and have them evaluate her further. After a lot of X-rays, ultrasounds, and finally a biopsy, they immediately called us and said that she had cancer. They told us it had spread and that she needs to come start chemotherapy treatment immediately,” she added.
NARA IS GRATEFUL FOR THE SUPPORT FROM HER COMMUNUTY
The support she got from forums, social media, and engaging with parents and families provided solace during this tough time for her family.
“Throughout all of this, I’ve been on a plethora of forums, social media [and] also talked to parents and family in the hospital, and all of that combined really brought me a lot of comfort,” she said.
The reason for sharing her daughter’s cancer journey is to provide comfort to others in similar situations and to encourage those who have been avoiding medical checkups.
“We wanted to share this to hopefully bring someone else that comfort or even incentivise you to go get something checked out that you’ve been avoiding,” she said.
“I hope that by sharing this I can bring someone else a little bit of comfort and make you feel less alone in your journey,” she said.