Reflections Are Sometimes Necessary

So I have recently been given the opportunity to help someone who is the same exact position I was in this time last year. I was contacted by a woman whos husband is a little older than myself and was recently diagnosed with the exact same lymphoma with the mutation and all. But that isn't even the biggest thing he is getting the same treatment, at the same hospital (they live close to boston) by the same doctor and the exact same first treatment date. I have been helping them through everything and I am glad I have been able to share my experience and help them see a positive outcome to this terrible disease.

So that little back story leads into why I am writing this blog. This coming Friday is my 9 month post treatment check up with my oncologist. It is also a time when my new friend will be having his first 5 day stay at the hospital for his second round of treatment and I am going to visit him while I am there. I had told his wife that I have a lot of books and materials that I got after treatment that would have been more helpful during treatment that I would be more than happy to bring to them. so I decided that I would start getting everything together for them. As I started to do this I looked around the room and decided it was time to take down all the cards and everything from last summer.

while I was taking them down I of course had to read them. And I just found myself smiling, it strikes me as odd that it takes something like a serious illness for you to find out just exactly what you mean to the people in your life. I found cards from friends, family, co-teachers and children in the classes. Aside from cards I have a beaded necklace, mylar balloons, ornaments. I even found a karaoke slip from a friend that had writen a request to sing the chemo song for me. I also found calendar pages (they had daily calendars hanging int the hospital rooms) that some of my friends that had come to visit me wrote me messages on them so that when the nurses changed the days in the morning I had a new message from them. Just as an FYI September 29th is National Alyson Day for those of you who didn't know that. 

As I was going through things I realized that I am truely loved by many people and that says a lot about the kind of person I have made sure to become. I appriciate everything everyone has done for me so please don't anyone take offense to what comes next. As I was taking the cards down there was one card that I decided was my favorite and if you look at there really is nothing special about it.

All it says is congratulations. However this card is from all the nurses on Phillips 21 at MGH. The reason I decided it was my favorite is that although these people really had no idea who I was and even though they managed to touch my life that I some how managed to touch their as well. It made me feel better that even through all that I went through I was still able to continue to be the real me. I am not sure if this is something they do for other patients but I certainly appreciated and will never forget them. They even got me a gift and made sure it was purple cause they knew that was my favorite color.

I am not exactly sure where I was going with this. I think I was just taken aback while looking at everything at how well it all turned out. I am glad that I was finally able to put all that stuff away and that I am able to help someone else who is having to go through the same situation!