Saturday, November 21, 2015

Giving Back

After all the things I've been through over the last year, I should be so over cancer.  I should be tired of dealing with the entire subject.  Nobody would blame me for not talking about it, for trying to forget and move on.  I just have a couple more big surgeries coming up, but those are in the future sometime next year.

And yet I can't help thinking of someone being in my shoes.  Finding out they have cancer.  All the emotions they will experience, the confusion, the anger, the depression, the despair, the anxiety.  That first chemo treatment, when you have been given a list of 457 side effects and have no true idea of what is about to happen. 

It can be overwhelming. 

So I thought about giving back.  And there was some fear involved in that, because it involves risk. And was I physically ready to tackle such a task?  But I thought that I could make some chemo bags, to share with people who are just beginning their journey. 

I called my Nurse Navigator, Beverly, and told her my idea.  She was excited, and offered to bring me some bags and other items, courtesy of the Methodist Hospital.  I also talked to some of my coworkers/supporters, who enthusiastically agreed to help me put the bags together.  We discussed some of the items we would need, like blankets, and tissues, and maybe some puzzle books. I will include a note about my own fight, because Beverly thought that would be a good idea.

My friends and I are going to have a party in a couple of weeks and put the bags together. Then I will take the bags to the Nurse Navigator, who will share them with the women who need them.  It's not much, in the big scheme of things, but I'm excited all the same. 

Giving back feels great!


3 comments:

  1. Giving back or paying it forward are always good ideas.

    I don't think you ever quite forget the struggle to be a cancer survivor. It really ranks up there but maybe not quite with losing a loved one. It stays with you. Time gives you distance but you can be back there mentally with the right memories or prompts. You just got one more notch on your belt.

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  2. What a great thing to do. Mr BC and I will be embarking on dialysis before we know it, maybe this weekend. I am trying to be aware of expectations. I hope we will be able to talk to others who are going thru this.

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  3. I think it is a wonderful thing to do. A true blessing.

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