Recording memories with mom

Lisa Burgess brushed her dirty blonde hair for the last time in the bathroom of her Daytona Beach home. She looked in the mirror and carefully ran her fingers through the strands that were slowly beginning to fall out.

With a sigh she twists it up into a braid and makes her way to the backyard to where her 9-year-old son, Eli, anxiously waits with a pair of silver scissors.

She crouches down on her knees in the grass and leans forward, holding up her hair so that Eli could start hacking away.

"It took him awhile but he finally cut it all off," Burgess, 46, said.

Burgess learned of her incurable diagnosis of stage 4 breast cancer, HER2, in February after she had a lump checked out by her doctor.

"I had no pain," Burgess said. "I had a lump for awhile but there was no history of breast cancer in my family."

Since Burgess found out her diagnosis, which has a life expectancy of 2 to 20 years, she has been open and honest with Eli about her sickness and the possibility that things could go south for her.

"He's been by my side for the whole thing and I don't want him to be blindsided," Burgess said. "It was depressing to tell him, but he had known that something was wrong."

For Eli, who enjoys going on trips and exploring with his mom, the diagnosis was "life changing."

"I was shocked and depressed," Eli said. "I want to take videos so I can remember our trips."

The gift of a lifetime

Eli dropped to the floor of the Cancer Institute's lobby as he hugged the package he was just given to his chest.

"I dropped down to the floor," Eli said. "I saw the bag from Amazon and opened it up to see a GoPro Hero 6!"

Eli was gifted the GoPro by Light the Way, a non-profit in Ormond Beach that helps to meet the needs of cancer patients in Volusia County.

Burgess's social worker at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center Cancer Institute, Vanessa Hill, reached out to Light the Way after Eli, who shares a birthday with his mom, explained his desire to capture his adventures with his mom.

“Eli and his mom like to go to the beach and snorkel, ride bicycles and play basketball together. In February, they have a trip planned to visit the Bahamas. Now, Eli can document all his fun memories with his mom,” said Hill. “Eli has wanted a GoPro to make videos for a YouTube channel, in hopes that he could get sponsors, so his mom wouldn’t have to work during her cancer treatment.”

Light the Way chose Eli to receive the GoPro because of the continued support that he has shown his mother.

“During some of her toughest moments, Eli has been there to help and has been a huge support for her,” Hill said. “At the young age of 9, Eli has already seen and been through so much. We’re grateful that we were able to partner with Light the Way so that Eli and his mom can capture all their fun memories together.”

So far Eli has used his GoPro to record fun around the house, his karate moves and footage of his five cats and one dog. He will be using it when they go on their Bahamas cruise next year and on a trip to Devil's Den Spring.

Thankfully for Burgess, her cancer has been responding well to the two drug treatments she receives at the Cancer Institute. These treatments have less side effects then conventional chemotherapy. 

"Everything in her last scan was resolved," said Dr. Eric Harris, medical oncologist at Florida Cancer Specialists. He points out that Eli has been a great support for his mother. "It's incurable but definitely manageable, we have a lot of long term survivors with this treatment."

Burgess will need to remain on treatment for the rest of her life. This fall she returned to teaching VPK part-time at Rising Stars Academy in Daytona Beach.

"I am so thankful that I have been able to keep my job through all of this," Burgess said. "I am truly thankful to the community, my boss and everyone who has helped me through the past couple of months."

Burgess's goal is to go back to working full time but she also plans to spend as much of her free time as possible with her son.

"Life is a lot harder then I think it is," Eli said. "I hope that somehow, someway someone is able to figure out a cure."