It's a Small World

Waking up from Benadryl, I look across the chemo suite and notice a woman that looks faintly familiar. It just can't be. No way. Not in a million years. A parent? Here? Getting chemo at the same time as me?  I get up to go to the bathroom and stop by her recliner. I jump right in and groggily say, "Ms. M...?" She looks at me, confused, and says, "Yes, that was my maiden name." "I was your daughter's teacher, Miss Vo, at the time." Her reply, "Oh my gosh." I proceed to the bathroom and come back to sit with her. We catch up with each other, both hooked up to machines dripping medicine into our ports. What a sight the two of us were. The nurses laughed and said, "You found a buddy?" What a small world. I had her daughter in my class about 9 years ago.

Here is her story: Two years ago, she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. After having a mastectomy and two months after finishing chemo, she was told that the cancer had spread into her bones. When she had her surgery, 4 lymph nodes were removed, all of which were clean. How could this have happened? How did the cancer spread when the nodes were clean? No answer there. The doctors are now just managing her disease. She said it is not curable. I guess one is never cured of cancer. All of the nurses in the unit know and love her. After all, she has been going there for 2 years now.

I was so confident that after chemo and maybe radiation, then surgery, that I'd be free of this disease. Clean. But after that somber conversation, I realize that things aren't so certain anymore. I'm actually a little freaked out over a hard area that I found on my left chest, slightly above my first incision. I hope it's only internal scar tissue, but I'm anxious to ask the onc about it on Friday. Any odd changes in my body are more noticeable now, and I lose sleep over it. Especially when it is a hard lump.

 

Here I am on a Sunday morning, no makeup to smooth my skin, brighten my cheeks, or give me eyebrows. Just plain ol' me with a little help from Instagram. Have a great week, friends.