to tell my son I love you, or say happy birthday.

That would be so cruel for a mother and child.

The night before my oral cancer surgery, it hit me as I was packing,

Logan may never hear my voice again.

So I recorded myself on tape, saying things like good night, and reading stories.

I love you Logan.

This is a story for Logan.

Can you give Mama a hug and a kiss, please?

It must have taken me 20 times to get through it without crying.

This kind of cancer has the potential to be pretty destructive,

but I was in such good hands at U of M. They got the cancer.

They took tissue from my arm, and they rebuilt my tongue.

It was amazing.

I really couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

You know, you take so many little things for granted, eating, speaking,

not to mention what this kind of radical surgery could do to your face.

But I'm here, and I'm able to do everything I did before, especially being a mom.

And I'm grateful to them, because I never had to play Logan that tape I made.