G-Prep student finds silver linings after losing her mother to cancer

Despite losing her mom during her sophomore year, Cassandra “Cassie” Padgham, a senior at Gonzaga Preparatory School, has shown resilience and used the experience to find silver linings and as inspiration in her pursuit to become a nurse.

Padgham said her mother died after fighting sarcoma, a type of cancer, after being diagnosed at the end of Padgham’s eighth-grade year.

“They gave her three to six months to live, and she lived two-and-a-half years past that date, which is a miracle,” she said.

Despite knowing that her mother would not beat the cancer, Padgham said they were thankful to have that time with her and provide her with the best quality of life as long as they could.

Padgham said her mother, who was a lawyer, continued to work throughout the beginning of her treatment and went whitewater rafting on a youth retreat with Padgham, and all the while her faith continued to get stronger.

“She was just really, really, really strong. She fought very hard and very long considering her diagnosis,” she said. “She’s just like such an important part of my life and … people tell me it’s unfortunate that I went through this at a young age, but at the same time it’s shaped me into who I am.”

Even though that shaping was difficult and she misses her mother, Padgham said she has become a stronger person and found silver linings in it all.

“Even though there were a lot of bad things and it’s not a thing that I’d ever wish for anyone, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t also good things in it,” she said. “I learned a lot from my mom and I would not be the same person today if it wasn’t for her journey and her strength.”

Before her mother was diagnosed, Padgham said she wanted to become a nurse, a desire that became stronger after being surrounded by the compassion and care of nurses during her mother’s treatment.

“Just being surrounded by these amazing nurses while my mom was going through that just made me, I guess, want to be a nurse even more,” she said.

Padgham said the nurses spent more time with her mother than the doctors did. She saw how compassionate and loving they were toward her; they would talk with her and make her feel better.

John Padgham, her father, said she has been a caring and compassionate person since she was a child.

“She was always great with kids, great with little kids, great with her peers,” he said. “She’s conscientious about how she makes others feel and that’s just her persona and how she is.”

John Padgham said the nursing profession is a selfless one where people give beyond themselves and that he could not be more proud of her for wanting to pursue it.

“I want people to know that just don’t give up because it’s so easy when we face a problem all of a sudden to just give up,” Cassie Padgham said. “My mom’s big thing was she was gonna live the best life she could for the rest of her life … and just to, like, live your life to the fullest.”

Padgham plans to study nursing at the University of Portland.