Cancer Limbo
She’s been told she has breast cancer.
She had surgery to remove the cancer. Now she waits.
It’ll be mid-week before the pathology reports become known to her. She’s in pain from the surgery. She’s trying to stay strong for her young daughter. Her husband is one of the best people I know. He’s trying to stay strong too. His mind is like a pinball at the moment, bouncing from one extreme to another. “She’ll be fine.” “What if she’s not going to be fine?”
Waiting until Wednesday seems like an eternity right now. The anticipation of news, good or bad, is excruciating. In some ways, the waiting is the worst….unless other things take over and the worst really does become the worst. There’s only so many reassuring words to say. I’m worried for them. I have been on that ‘waiting’ end and it produces uneasy days and sleepless nights.
It’s called cancer limbo.
January 31, 2012 @ 6:57 pm
As we all know, the waiting, the anticipating, the hoping, the praying and then more waiting. It is just so emotionally draining! We’ve all heard some good news and we’ve all heard the bad news. Sadly, we’ve never forgotten the words of the bad news…they remain with us along with our feelings at that moment. What we did immediately after is just a blur but we will always remember the bad news. I hope and pray that they will be spared and that the news will be good but just in case, tell them that we have already begun lifting and that we are a very potent force for HOPE.
On a very sad…just so sad that it is hard to write…the little 2 year old girl, Paxten, died. Her bone marrow transplant was successful but the drugs used to suppress her immune system caused a fungus to grow in her sinuses and her lung. The 6 hour surgery was just too much for her little body to take. It just tears my heart out to know the suffering that her parents have felt with their loss. Cancer is such a cruel disease.
Another friend, an old fart like me, has just begun chemo yesterday for acute myeloid leukemia. It was mostly dormant in his body but just decided to explode. He has many heart issues so the chemo will be hard for him to tolerate. Hope is that he can get through his course of chemo because it seems to have a good track record. I pray that he and his wife can soldier on in the face of some daunting odds.
Lots of very dark clouds overhead with an occasional glimpse of the sun’s rays! Let us hope that progress is made and made quickly so that we can see more brightness and less darkness in the cancer world.
January 31, 2012 @ 11:07 pm
Very sad. As Laurie indicated-some situations exhaust us and leave us without words. Prayers and peace to all. Hope remains.
February 1, 2012 @ 8:47 pm
Sometimes there are just no words. And yet I imagine Paxten singing.
January 30, 2012 @ 9:13 pm
Let’s pray that she has good news but I know the waiting is almost unbearable. I’ve reached the point of not having a wait and see attitude about anything for anyone. Get it checked and ease your mind and don’t wait for it to be a problem. I’m afraid a bit of paranoia has set in for me so those that are close to me will just have to put up with me! I woke up crying, I think, from a dream last night of going to visit my sister and realizing half way there that she would not be there but Jim was there to comfort me. When I did wake up it was just double sadness. I am missing him terribly these days.
January 31, 2012 @ 10:50 pm
Hold on-let Jim comfort you-he is with you and he will always be part of you, You should go to the doctor. Like you said-don’t wait.
January 30, 2012 @ 9:00 pm
And some scans, perhaps a pet scan too, some blood work and even an x-ray or two, and then wait for the results. Nerve racking even after you’ve done it over and over, let alone the first time out. Yuck!
Ned I suppose we will stand and wave and lift until it is done. We’ve made it this far and helped each other and others along, so we’ll gather a deep breath and exhale and stand tall and wave and lift.
January 30, 2012 @ 8:47 pm
Laurie-How the hell do you do it? I had a difficult work day, but I did take some comfort in preparing a nice,solo evening meal. As I was cooking I watched an esoteric sub-titled film that I’m still trying to figure out. I had plenty time to think about how nice it would have been to be relaxing with Penny. I must confess, I felt some relief from another dark winter that will always get in the way of the best memories. Of course,we are blessed with the purist haunting and I should be more open to lifting the uninitiated. It’s just so tiring….how long can we wave goodbye?
January 30, 2012 @ 5:57 pm
We’ll all be lifting for your friend. May our words and prayers help lift her out of that limbo.