Can a horrific ugly disease like cancer produce something beautiful out of it? Before I was diagnosed, I would have given a definitive “no” to that question. But out of all the terror and ugliness, I have met some of the bravest people. People I never took notice of until this evil disease knocked on my door. People so brave, so caring; and yet they were hidden in shadows–as if in a different world.
I will never forget my radiation experience. My mother and I never had what I would call a close relationship. When I was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she went with me to every radiation treatment. She never missed a treatment. I had to drive myself (about a 3 hour round trip) daily, as my mother cannot do city driving. But for the first time in my life, I felt she really cared about me. It meant the world to me for someone to go with me to treatments –and more so, for her to go.
Then there were the people in the waiting room. People with all kinds of cancer: lung, brain, breast, esophageal, and other kinds. Some with a good prognosis, and some with a lousy prognosis. We all echoed the same thoughts amongst each other. “I never thought this would happen”…”I am going to fight this”…”I will be praying for you”…”Fight, you can win!” It makes me cry to think about it, despite the fact this happened nearly five years ago.
One lady and I hugged each other and cried after she finished her external radiation treatments. In fact, there were a lot of heart felt hugs in that waiting room. Strangers…hugging and crying over each other.
Fast forward.
Recently, we have been getting hit with tornadoes here in Oklahoma. I have had to take cover twice—not fun! Certainly no benefit to my high blood pressure. Last week, there was a tornado not too far from where I lived, thankfully it missed us (it was a few miles away—but only a few!).
The next morning, I went to my email, and saw I had a mail from someone I met on a forum in 2006. His wife had nasopharyngeal cancer, no insurance, and no where to get treatment. We began to correspond, and along with my sister and I, we went on an international campaign in an attempt to get his wife treatment. They live in Indonesia. For almost two years we labored contacting various medical organizations and charities. Eventually her husband found a medical professor at UCLA who agreed to treat her. If only they could had gotten the money and Visas to get here. Shortly after the professor offered their services, his wife passed away in February 2008. It was quite a journey, which ended so tragically.
Last week, that precious lady’s husband emailed me and my sister from Jakarta, and said “I heard a tornado hit Oklahoma, and hope you are okay.” We rarely communicate anymore, still he reached out from overseas to see if we made it through the storms. Out of tragedy, a beautiful gesture of kindness.
There are so many people I have met along this journey I will never forget.
