"It takes a village to raise a child." When you have cancer, going the journey alone is heartbreaking but going the journey surrounded by family and friends makes it not only doable but comforting.
These are the incredible ways my village took care of me. I will forever be in their debt.
1. Cards, emails, texts, visits--I have had or will have a surgery, months of chemo, two consults at cancer centers far from our home, and one more aggressive surgery. People have continued to reach out via the internet, personal visits, and mail. Many have reached out long past my first surgery. Thank you for keeping me all these months in your prayers and thoughts.
2. To my coworkers, who also happen to be my very dear friends, had my house cleaned for me on several occasions. It was so wonderful to come from the hospital and not be looking at dust bunnies that I could not deal with. What a great gift.
3. To my favorite school--I may have left to take a new job but I continue to be part of them. They have (with my church family) fed my family for the entire first month as my family moved from shock to acceptance to determination. Meals were not our priority. Who knows what we would have eaten? Also, for all the visits, the gift card, the hugging (we are a big huggy group), the well wishes, the prayers, the phone calls. Just writing this and thinking of these people turns me into sappy, weepy fool.
4. To my other family, another big huggy bunch--my church family, who also helped with a month of meals. They have sent card after card, week after week. Our pastor dropped everything the minute I found out I had a significant cancer marker and ran to be with me so I wasn't absorbing the news alone.
5. To my boss, also a great friend, who stayed with me through those first horrible phone calls that moved me from surgery patient to cancer patient and wouldn't leave me alone. And then accompanied me to my doctor's appointment so I wouldn't be alone. What a gift, I am forever in her debt.
8. To my friends--they have done amazing things. Not only did they bring meals to our house for an entire month but they have constantly been checking on me months down the road. One friend has been over every day or every other day to walk our dogs with me. One day, when I wasn't strong enough and neither of my children were there to walk my dog, she walked her dog and my dog as well. When I got to skinny to wear my own clothes, she went out and bought two outfits that were soft and small enough for me to wear.
6. To my husband, who stayed with me through every procedure I had that long first week in the hospital. It was like having my own personal nurse. He caught every rise in temperature, every bout of discomfort, and every need that I had and got someone to address it with lightening speed.
7. My family. In February of this year, I lived alone (my kids are grown and my husband works out of town). Since that time, I have had a least two family members living with me at anytime. What can you say to people who got the call, didn't even stop and think twice but gave up their lives to spend weeks with me? My mother has been with me since my first surgery which has been months now and refuses to leave until I get a clean bill of health. My daughter, a college students, gave up her academic life for weeks at a time. My son, also a college student, tagged team his time with his sister. My father and sister both have been here. My sister took over cooking, cleaning, and household management for a month at a time when Mom, Dad, and I were exhausted. My father will also stay till I am fully healthy.
