Adults with Cystic Fibrosis lead dual lives. On the one hand, they live with the constant threat of becoming ill even as they practice a regime of medications and airway clearance that is taxing and tiring. On the other hand, it gets old being sick, it gets boring talking about it and it gets irritating to have other people telling you what you should be doing. The worst part is when other people cry for or about you. I am done crying about having breast cancer and am ready to live with the diagnosis and the treatment.
Yet, despite having CF, many of my patients have a calm, brave spirit that does not give into the disease but accepts the reality and navigates through life with this strange companion. They have learned from the experience of having CF but it does not define them. These incredible people inspire me and provide unknowing mentorship for my life with cancer. That is a blessing that I am sure many others with cancer do not have! On the job training is a benefit of employment in a job that I love.
Kim Peet gave me a poetry book with this interesting poem written by a cancer survivor:
ENLIGHTENMENT
by Sylvia Thompson
I prayed to the Heavens
for a great teacher
dignifying, enlightening and steady.
With desperate pleas,
in silent conveyance,
that I, the student, was ready.
And so the Heavens,
obliged to my need,
sent a great teacher
to answer.
When I asked him his name,
he smiled at me warmly,
bowed down to me
and said,
CANCER.
No comments:
Post a Comment