By Saleem Rana
Inteview by Allen Cardoza on Friday, June 18, 2012
Judith Hannan shared with Allen Cardoza, from Answers for the Family blog, and the listeners of L.A. Talk Radio, a description of the events that led to her memoir, “Motherhood Exaggerated.” Her popular book recounts her young daughter’s battle with cancer.
It all began when Nadia, then eight-years-old, cracked her jaws when she bit on a piece of Halloween candy. This unmasked a rare bone cancer. Fortunately, after a harrowing medical journey, she gradually recovered. Today, Nadia is a healthy girl in her early 20s.
During the interview, Judith retold the story of her own emotional struggles, as well as that of the other members of the family, as they worked to shepherd Nadia back to health. She shared many glimpses into the entire family’s emotional challenges and shifting roles as Nadia faced her medical treatments and uncertain future.
A Writer’s Personal Odyssey
As a writer by profession, Judith felt it necessary to create a vivid description of the entire experience after it was all over in the form of a factual memoir to help other mother’s assist their child back to recovery during a critical illness.
Her remarkable book is more than just a narration of an unfolding illness and how it affected every member of the family. It is also an exploration into the many facets of a person’s life that changes when challenged with something as monumental as a potential death in the family. Judith discussed how it was an exploration of her own Jewish faith, beliefs, cultural codes and evolving ideas about motherhood.
After Nadia was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, Judith experienced what can only be described as, “a heightened state of awareness.” Recalling the past, Judith said that it was one of the most intense periods in her life, a time of acute present moment awareness, rich emotions, and intense maternal love.
Final Thoughts
In the final analysis, Nadia’s battle for her life made Judith very aware of motherhood and how she had to go beyond the limited roles that her mother and even her grandmother had defined for her through their own examples. For instance, Judith’s mother only gave her perfunctory care when Judith was a little girl. Consequently, Judith needed to reinvent a whole new concept of motherhood when looking after her own critically ill daughter
