Two Diagnoses, One Fight: How We Held Each Other Through the Storm
- maryrburrell
- May 22
- 2 min read
Updated: May 27
Caregiver and patient. Wife and husband. Fighter and fighter.
Some love stories are sweet. Ours is survival.
There was a moment—maybe more than one—when both Louis and I were fighting for our lives at the same time. He was being told the words no one wants to hear: “It’s cancer.” And I was quietly preparing for death in hospice care, my heart failing, my body shutting down, and no clear way out.
How do you hold space for someone else’s pain when you’re barely surviving your own?
You just do.
Because when you love someone that deep, the instinct to protect doesn’t go away—even when you’re the one in the hospital bed.
We Became Each Other’s Caregivers
It was never one-sided. There were days he drove me to appointments when he could barely stand. Nights I helped him manage his meds while trying to catch my breath from fluid overload. We held each other through procedures, PET scans, valve trials, port placements, and tears we didn’t always let the world see.
We tag-teamed everything—doctor visits, pharmacy runs, bad news, and little victories. We learned how to laugh in waiting rooms. How to cry without falling apart. How to advocate not just for ourselves, but for each other.
We’ve seen each other at our most fragile—and loved even harder because of it.
The Guilt and the Grace
I’ll be honest—there were moments I felt guilty for surviving. For still being here when others we loved weren’t. For not being able to “be strong” every single day.
But there was also grace.
The kind of grace that shows up when someone sees you at your weakest and still calls you powerful.
The kind of love that says, “You’re not a burden. We’re in this together.”
This Is What Real Love Looks Like
It’s not glamorous. It’s raw and unfiltered and honest.
It’s sitting through chemo and echo appointments.It’s waiting for lab results and praying in silence.It’s sleeping in chairs, holding puke buckets, and still whispering, “I got you.”
We didn’t get through this because we’re superheroes.We got through it because we refused to let go of each other.
We didn’t choose the storm but we chose each other every single day in it.
If you're walking through something heavy with your person, whether you're the patient, the caregiver, or both I see you. It's not easy. But you are not alone.
💬 Drop a comment if you and your person have ever tag-teamed your way through something hard. I’d love to hear your story.
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