Birthdays and Breast Cancer

                 The radiation waiting room was in the inner sanctum of the cancer center. Radiation was merely step two of my chemotherapy/radiation cancer treatment plan. The chemotherapy waiting room was simply the main waiting room just inside the entrance, where patients also waited to see a doctor or have blood work done. But radiation patients were special, we had our own waiting room. We got secretly buzzed back there simply by standing in front of the receptionist, Denise, who quietly buzzed us in while multi-tasking on the phone or computer.

                Back in the inner sanctum secrets were openly shared. One lady showed me her burned bosom as a badge of courage, seemingly whether I wanted to see it or not. The next day there was a new cubicle wall along the outer row of chairs, as if the flashing from the day before was too much for some unintentional eye to bear. The cubicle wall made it feel cozier back there, more private, secretive. Before that it was just a side lounge of chairs. With the wall it felt more like an actual waiting room. Perhaps there was a complaint, or even a suggestion in one of those ever-present boxes.

                So it was back in the inner sanctum one morning in August when a new lady arrived, Bev. She had been chatting with Cathy, who occupied the radiation time slot after mine. Bev told Cathy she had a lumpectomy and now needed five days of radiation, and that all of this was stealing her joy. I was hardly listening, scrolling through my recent sunflower photos, red, orange and yellow sunflowers I grew this summer, tired from stopping work and getting there every morning at 9am, when Cathy leaned back against the new wall and said “Wendy, tell Bev what you’ve been through.” I showed them some of my beautiful sunflower photos while relating how I had a mastectomy in January, started chemo in mid-February, first once every other week of a bad kind for four treatments, then once every week of another kind of chemo, not so bad but still chemo, but for 12 weeks straight! Then they gave me four weeks off before I started radiation in August, 25 treatments, one a day every weekday.

                Shortly after relating my story I got called back to get my radiation treatment. I thought about Bev that week and prayed for her, that God would restore her joy. I didn’t see her for a few sessions, but Cathy and I got to know each other better, and soon it would be her last session, since she started a few days before me and was only scheduled for 20 treatments. On her third to last day I gave her a magnet I made through Shutterfly. It’s a photo of a Paint Nite painting I did of a bird flying in a forest over a stream, and I photo-shopped the words “God will cover you with His wings” near the bottom. The next day Cathy gave me a nice card with her phone number in it and a gift bag with a cute figurine.

                Then I got called back to get my radiation treatment. My photo was on the screen and I said my name and birthday. The treatment went fast, and as I was leaving, I stopped in the inner sanctum waiting room and asked Cathy her birthday. She said “February 26^th.” I exclaimed “That’s my birthday too!” And we hugged in tears. I couldn’t believe it! We were sitting there all those weeks and had the same birthday!

                The next day was Cathy’s last radiation treatment and we said our good-byes. I texted her once that week that I missed her, since there was a cranky man there one morning instead of her. Then I saw Bev again one morning. The next day I brought her a magnet also. I handed her the magnet and let her know I’d been praying for God to restore her joy. She started to cry and said she thought about me and all I’d been through but I was still finding joy in simple things like sunflowers, and she decided she needed to put on her big girl panties! That made me laugh, and also cry a little. I told her how I cried with Cathy when we found out we had the same birthday. I asked Bev when was her birthday. “Oh February 26^th.” “That’s my birthday and Cathy’s too!” I couldn’t believe it. I actually got weak in the knees! Then I got called back for my treatment. After I came back out, Bev was telling the next lady in the radiation queue about our birthdays. That lady said she was there when Cathy and I learned we had the same birthday, and now she was there the same day Bev and I found out also. It was like they were events to remember! I gave her a magnet too.

                So Bev and I exchanged phone numbers and her last day came quickly. The next day there was a new lady there waiting in her time slot after me. I was chatty with that lady, and asked her birthday right away. She said slowly “February twenty…fourth.” So amazingly close. My husband Chris, says we have a very specific club, you have to have breast cancer and be born February 26^th.

Taxi-ing with Jesus

Heard the most random compilation of music that reminded me of Jesus on the flight out of Dulles. Actually, most of them were played during the pre-flight taxi. It's amazing how God used the following secular songs, the majority seemingly meant to mock Christianity, to remind me of Jesus:

American Pie, by McLean – lyrics "...and do you have faith in God above, if the Bible tells you so."

Love Reign O'er Me, by The Who – lots of yelling, I thought it was "Lord Rain on Me" at first!

All You Zombies, by the Hooters – lyrics start "Holy Moses Met the Pharaoh..." and basically tells the Genesis story up through Noah, are they trying to say Christians are zombies?

lyrics of a yet unidentified song (help me here!) started with "In the valley of the shadow of LA" reminded me of Psalm 23:4 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..."

Thunder Road, by Springstein – lyrics "...waste your summer praying in vain, for a savior to rise from these streets..."

The five previous songs were heard while still on the taxiway, this song was heard in-flight.
The Black Parade, by My Chemical Romance - lyrics "...will you be the savior of the broken, defeated and the damned...He said one day I'll leave you..."

DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU WANT A PREVIEW OF THE MOVIE "BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA"

God also tapped me on the shoulder during the in-flight movie to once again remind me of Jesus. Out of about six choices, and I didn't have to share the remote with anyone, I came across "Bridge to Terabithia". It was surprisingly very sad, similar to "My Girl", where there are young friends, a boy (Jess) and a girl (Leslie), and I'll try not to spoil the rest of the story. At one point they had a Jesus discussion. Leslie was unchurched at home but went to church once with Jess's family. Here's the discussion they had with his little sister, Mabel, in the back of a pick-up truck after church (I watched the same movie three times, except the sad part only the first time, because I was fascinated with this discussion and wrote down a little more of it every time):

Leslie: "I'm really glad I came, that whole Jesus thing is really interesting."

Mabel: "It's not interesting, it's scary! God will damn you to hell if you don't believe in the Bible!"

(At some point Leslie said "I think it's beautiful.")

(Don't remember what the response was to that, something once again about God damning us to hell if we don't believe in the Bible.)

Leslie: "I don't think so, he's too busy running all of this..." (arms open to the beautiful scenery).

Jess was reluctant to let Leslie come along in the first place, said "You'll think it's boring." She practically had to talk him into letting her go along to church with them. Then she was the one to bring up the subject of Jesus afterwards. The churched kids thought of Jesus and the Bible as scary and the unchurched girl thought it was beautiful, though she didn't seem to believe.

It wasn't until the third viewing that I caught this line, spoken sorrowfully by Leslie when they found an old, abandoned truck in the woods, their first time in 'Terabithia'.

Leslie: "Too bad for them, they got so close."

Jess: "What are you talking about?"

Leslie: "To the Kingdom [of Terabithia]."

Is that an analogy about her? I'd like to watch it again in a group setting and have a discussion about it. Maybe I'll have to arrange a movie night here!