Marla & Me: Back On Track

I’ve said it before, but I love little ironies in life. A friend of mine will send me a message when she’s discovered a great new video clip, book, or music. A few weeks ago she encouraged me to check out the song “My Body” by Young the Giant. That same day I received the news from a different friend that his doctor was 99% sure he had lymphoma, biopsy pending. He’s a young (much younger than me) ambitious little $&@!, who went head first into law enforcement as a career the moment he was legally able without violating child labor laws. While waiting for his scheduled biopsy he asked me all the same questions that I once had, mentally preparing for the unfavorable diagnosis and the possibility of chemotherapy. I knew that no matter what the outcome would be, he was going to be fine. Aside from youth being an advantage, there is no way he would not fight an ailment with all his might. Waiting for the biopsy to happen is an agonizing time, a time of not knowing what is going on inside you and what will happen next. After what seemed like months, the day of his biopsy arrived and his surgeon removed a mediastinal lymph node from his chest and explained that it had many indications that it was not lymphoma. The biopsy results were negative, and he was instead diagnosed with Sarcoidosis, something that he’ll live with the rest of his life, receiving treatment only if symptoms require it. Finally, take a deep breath, close your eyes and rest, and when you wake up you can carry on.

Last week I learned that my neighbor who has been fighting cancer for several months has taken a turn for the worse. He has tumors throughout his body, growing at a rapid pace. He’s an older gentleman and over the years he’s kindly offered me gardening advice. During my chemotherapy, his wife knocked at my door one day and greeted me with a dozen jars of their homemade grape juice. Side note: Apparently grapes are little mold-spore factories and I was told by my nurse that given the compromised state of my immunities unless I was going to peel each individual grape I should avoid them. Naturally, being told not to have something made me crave it even more. When everything tasted like chemicals and the food I once enjoyed seemed ruined, this was absolute nectar and I’ve always been grateful to them for their caring gesture. Back to my neighbor, he has made the decision to continue in a dignified and graceful route by way of hospice care. I can’t begin to imagine the strength it took to make the most difficult decision of his life, for his life. At the same time, what an amazing moment that must be, to be at peace with your own soul and knowing that when you go on to the next world you're going to be just fine.

Each time you act in spite of your fear, you discover even greater, deeper courage.

-Art Berg-

I don’t have a good segue to the rest of this post, it’s more or less just a few pictures of a recent outing with the offspring.