The Positive (By Shelley)

I just wanted to write a little bit about how my Mom is doing.  She had her third chemo treatment on Tuesday.  The chemo seems to make her dizzy and tired and then a few days later she gets sick.  One of the symptoms of her cancer was a chronic cough which I have noticed isn’t near as bad.  She also told us that the extreme pain she was feeling because of her cancer is getting better.  It used to make things like making her bed really hard, but she is able to do that again.  I know that this is a huge blessing on her road to recovery.  I know I have mentioned this before, but she looks amazing!  When I look at her I am just shocked at how good she looks.  You would not know by looking at her what her body is going through.   I believe a huge part of this is due to her positive attitude.

When you go in for chemo or a cancer treatment it’s a little bit different than you would think, or at least it’s different than I thought.  Everyone has their treatments together in a big room full of recliners.  You just sit for I believe an hour or so and get pumped with your chemo or whatever treatment they have you on.  I asked Mom if this was weird and she said she thought it would be, but it’s actually fine.  Usually the same people go on the same day and time so you get to know them.   When I called my Mom on Tuesday  to see how she was feeling and how her treatment went her attitude just lifted me.  I loved talking to her and the conversation we had made me want to be more like her.  When I asked about her treatment she just kept talking about the lady she sat by.  She had seen this lady there before and on Tuesday they talked.  She told me that this lady didn’t have support or a family that is there for her.  My Mom proceeded to tell me about the things she wanted to do for this lady.  She told me a little bit of their conversation and I could just feel how much my Mom  wanted to help this lady and how even though all they have shared is a short conversation, my mom has loved her.  One of my Mom’s greatest strengths is her compassion.  It’s so easy for her to love.  She may not know it, but I learned a lot from her Tuesday.   From now on in my times of hardship I will try harder not to wander in my own self pity and  be more like my Mom.  Love people.  Look for someone that may be going through something harder than I am and serve them.  Another thing my Mom told me was that she felt guilty telling this lady about her family and friends because she has so much support!   Your cards and visits mean so much to her!  And I just heard that a team walking the Relay for Life added her to their list of people they are walking for.  She has mentioned more than once how much she needs her family and friend's support.  She couldn’t do it without them.

Mom gets a week off from Chemo and I’m so excited about this so I can only imagine how excited she is.

And the most important message of the day, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!  I LOVE YOU!