"Cancer Better Be Scared Of Me"
Sandra Hughes is a CBS News Correspondent based in Los Angeles.
Let me tell you about my friend Diane Ronnau. She has this out-sized personality and a smile to match. She makes friends wherever she goes; which is a very good quality for a producer. She's worked at CBS News for 17 years. From the old CBS Morning News, to 48 Hours, to the CBS Evening News, Diane has been around the world, but I would bet that she would say her biggest accomplishment in life is being a mom. She has twin boys: Aiden and Ben, who are five.
Just about every morning, we check in with each other on the way to the LA bureau. We discuss the latest mommy mishaps in our lives; sick kids, spilled coffee on our suits, arguments with our spouses. Then we shift gears into work mode, and we start talking about interviews and story ideas. How would we make it to Sacramento and back before one of our kids had that championship game? Can you write that script over the weekend? Sure, if you can pick up that tape for me tonight while my daughter's at gymnastics -- those sort of working mother trade-offs.
A year ago, all that changed. "My back is so sore," Diane said sitting in my office while we worked on a real estate story. She was popping so many Advils, I began to worry about her. In a week or so, her stomach pain grew so intense she went to the doctor. At the same time, her eyes started turning yellow. It was jaundice, we found out, because her pancreas was blocked by a mass. She was still coming to work but I could tell she was in a lot of pain. Tests revealed she needed surgery. They wouldn't say for sure it was cancer...
(CBS)
Just about every morning, we check in with each other on the way to the LA bureau. We discuss the latest mommy mishaps in our lives; sick kids, spilled coffee on our suits, arguments with our spouses. Then we shift gears into work mode, and we start talking about interviews and story ideas. How would we make it to Sacramento and back before one of our kids had that championship game? Can you write that script over the weekend? Sure, if you can pick up that tape for me tonight while my daughter's at gymnastics -- those sort of working mother trade-offs.
A year ago, all that changed. "My back is so sore," Diane said sitting in my office while we worked on a real estate story. She was popping so many Advils, I began to worry about her. In a week or so, her stomach pain grew so intense she went to the doctor. At the same time, her eyes started turning yellow. It was jaundice, we found out, because her pancreas was blocked by a mass. She was still coming to work but I could tell she was in a lot of pain. Tests revealed she needed surgery. They wouldn't say for sure it was cancer...
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