My Friday workday started off with a gift… Shauna and Tara from our News Department and several other folks here at Metro News and West Virginia Radio… collectively presented me with a house-cleaning gift certificate this morning! And of course I cried… but this time tears of JOY. (I’ve never been on the receiving end of a collection like this before… and I just felt overwhelmed.) I haven’t done much cleaning these last several weeks… and I was beginning to be a bit troubled by my lack of energy to take care of things around the house. (Ric has been helping, but unless he has his glasses on… he doesn’t see everything I do!) What a loving thing for the people I work with to do! One more thing I don’t have to worry about for a long time… and more opportunities to rest and get myself well! The loving things people are doing for Ric and I are just amazing… we’re so blessed.
Baseball, Hot Dogs and Cracker Jacks
It was another really great day, healthwise. Except for the tingling and tightness in my scalp, there’s just no indication I’m even “sick.” (Actually, I need to remember, that when I am sick, it’s not the cancer that’s making me sick, it’s the chemotherapy treatment… somehow that’s seems important to keep in mind.) My energy and enthusiasm is really good. I’m even going to go to the ballpark before the game for the station tonight… I’m ready for it!
Ooops… around 3:00 the fatigue set in again… not bad… went home and took a ½ hour nap… woke up feeling ready to go again. A simple remedy.
Ric came over to the ballpark after work and we stayed for most of the game… it was fun.
Met Sherry at the game… she too has breast cancer… was wearing a blue WV Power ball cap with a yellow scarf… she looked so cute! (That’ll soon be my official headgear for WV Power games!) I asked her so many questions, ‘cause she’s just slightly ahead of my point in treatment. Funny how you can get away with asking such personal questions when you too have breast cancer. Even funnier how quickly and easily the questions get answered! It’s an instant connection that transcends all usual formalities, politeness and “courtesies.”
I’ve heard from and met so many cancer survivors recently that I will never again think of cancer as a death sentence. Of course, it IS life-threatening and there are still so many outcomes that are NOT good… but there is so much more HOPE than I ever realized! Any money I (or anyone) has ever donated to cancer research has been well spent. So many advances have been made that are benefiting us now. We’re not done though… until we find cures for all types of cancer.
Several people came up to me at the game tonight and said that I’ve shown so much courage to come forth publicly with my condition. And once again, I say it has taken no courage at all! Countless women before me have displayed much more courage, many are more courageous right now… and many women after me will have to muster up more courage than I have had to do. I’ve known even before I knew for sure my lump was cancerous that I would do this. In my job, I have the ability to reach too many women not to do it. Not every woman is called to publicly deal with her breast cancer. I am. And because God has called me to do it – He’s giving me what I need to be able to do so. I’m in the unique position to get the message out… what I didn’t know before (but do now) is that I’m also in the unique position to hear from so many breast cancer survivors, and bask in the HOPE that they have given me. My job is easy. I pray that others dealing with this disease will find her particular calling.
Ric and I rode home discussing how all encounters with other people have meaning and purpose. When our souls connect, our lives change for the better… it’s a collective energy that makes the world a better place. It’s allowing God to bring us together as a family, a community.
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