When I am at the hospital every two weeks for treatment I try to have as much fun as I can, try to get some work done, and try to check in with other patients around me. It’s just an approach that works for me, facing poison with a light and grateful heart. It’s been hard work to get to this point but worth it.
Yesterday I struck up a conversation with a lady that was getting treatment in the next comfy chair. These chairs are separated by a curtain but I had to walk through her space to get to the WC down the hall. I just think that the hospital has the idea that patients should not be too isolated from one another there. They need a little visual privacy at times but need to feel like what they are experiencing is not something to be locked away. Anyway, she was farely new at the process and I thought that I would talk to her since I was invading her space.
She asked what I was doing here and I answered her saying that I was here working on my cancer hobby and she burst out laughing. See that’s what I bring. I wound up showing her the magazine article and left her with a business card. Hope that she checks in to the blog and website.
But what does that mean to treat cancer as a hobby? I am blessed that my situation is such that we have the tumors stabilized, that we have the knowledge and life style to stay one step ahead of the present side effects of the chemo and that our mindset is positive about the whole journey. This focus is a result of all the wonderful people in my life that have come to add something to the life lines that have saved me. I guess I am smart enough to pay attention to their messages and implement them in my days is where I can take credit, if for anything.
So, when I can go from walking through the doors of the Swedish Cancer Institute on treatment day thinking any sane person just wants to run away TO going through the same doors and having fun and making a fellow patient laugh is an important change. Thank you everyone that has helped me do that.
OK, off to my day. Love you guys, Felipe.