The chemo room is a trip. It's this room that's about the size of, well the size of a chemo room. It's this big, beautiful, calming room with about 15 or so big ol' huge comfy recliners, tons o' magazines and the sweetest nurses.
We had no idea what to expect and boy were we pleasantly surprised!
The nurse, Cheryl, told my mom to pick a chair any chair. Once she did, they brought me own chair, much less squishy, but a chair nonetheless. We ended up sitting across from a woman a few years older than my mom, (her daughter was also her visitor) and guy around my age named Mike. The three of them were so funny and uplifting...we definitely picked the party corner! The five of us chatted and the three of them shared chemo stories with each other for a bit and then it was time for the woman and her daughter to go...today was her last treatment! My mom, Mike and I all said to her "Good luck and we hope we never see you again!" Seems like a weird thing to say, but on this journey, its the right thing to say and when you say it, you really really mean it.
The room filtered out a bit over about an hour period and my mom and Mike really got to chat. He told us his story and how his roller coaster journey started. Then she told him her story...turns out he had and has alot of the same symptoms as my mom. It was awesome to watch their exchanges and interactions...I could tell that this brought ALOT of comfort to the both of them. Its always nice to have someone in your boat who understands where you are coming from...there is only so much that we, as friends and family, can really understand...we will never be able to fully grasp what they are dealing with.
We had a couple of do-do-do moments with Mike this morning. Mike was diagnosed February 27,2008 and my mom, as we all know, was diagnosed July 27, 2008. Hang on, this isn't the do-do-do part...this is...Mike had been admitted to the emergency room at the same time as my mom and shared the same floor as us almost the entire time we were in the hospital. Also, at some point during our second week of radiation, we saw a guy in the waiting room that was wearing a shirt that said " MRI.....20K RADIOLOGY.....30K HOSPITAL.....40K BIG SISTER....PRICELESS
I was SO obsessed with this shirt and it really gave me and my mom such a cool and different perspective on our newly minted canser journey. FINALLY we saw someone like us, someone who had a warped and wicked sense of humor! That shirt helped us realize that we could actually just be ourselves, even through all of this scary shit was going on.
Turns out, surprise, surprise, it was Mike, my mom's new chemo buddy!
Mike will be there at the same time for the rest of the week and I know that we are both totally looking forward to chatting it up with him...here's to hoping that he too has a healthy canser free recovery!
My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet. She's now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia.
Dame Edna Everage
hugs and loads o' love to you all...tomorrow...pictures!
xo
2 comments:
...and ofcourse his name is Mike...short for Michael! We got Michaels everywhere. Wonderful that the two of you found him and more wonderful that my sis found someone that she could talk to with the experiences she can relate to and understand. Blessings
are coming...i believe it! I love you.
Aunt Nancy.
Can't wait to see the pictures..
Butterfly kisses to you both...Zerberts to follow! Smile
You are confusing me..I come home every night and read your blog. It says that its Wed which means I have two more days of work. Please update blog so I know what day of the week it is...LOL! Looking for new pictures ...
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