Keep moving forward....down the hall to the corner!

Here I sit feeling like Carrie from Sex in the City. For those of you who don't watch the show....she has a dream career of sitting in her pj's and in her own time, sharing her thoughts through stories for a New York newspaper. I have the privilege of writing for those I care about - my family.

To begin a quote from Sharon Bray, "when we repress emotions and silence our stories, we weaken our ability to heal". Why might this quote be the take off point for the blog story - well Mom and I were escorted from the quiet chemo room to the back corner of another more segregated room. Let me explain - it was Day 2 of chemo and we were privileged to meet many others in the chemo room. To our liking was a lady, Cathy was her name and she saw we were having too much fun and decided to join in. Now to add Cathy to the mix meant the stories got sillier and the laughter consumed the entire room. A gentleman, who was scheduled for chemo a bit later, walked into the chemo room and asked "I'll have what they are having!" Of course you do get a couple of people who are reminiscent of Peter from Panorama, who don't really "get" the O'Hara/Maddison sense of humor and it only takes one to try and turn the lights out!

So as we entered Chemo for the third day, we saw "Peter". We casually smiled and checked in......that's when we were greeted with OHHHH, you will be receiving chemo in the other room today! We wondered, did Peter not want us in the same room? We were puzzled as asked "Why, per say?" The nurse stammered and said, "A nurse has called in sick - so we will have to remove you from this room!" We were escorted to the next room and TOLD to sit in the farthest, most secluded back corner - was it so we wouldn't cause a ruckus! Guess we showed them - the laughter and the stories followed us and we met some more great gigglers in the back corner! Not really sure how many more rooms they can send us too! I did hear only 4 chemo rooms were in the hospital.....we will christen them all!!!

But seriously we did meet with Dr. Chiu and Dr. Yee, news is Clarabelle and Charly continue to diminish in size. Mom is tolerating chemo and radiation well. She is a bit more fatigued this second cycle but spirits are continuing to soar. Dad has been such a trooper through this and continues to take Mom to radiation each and every morning - Bravo Dad!! Now sure,we all have our down times, but the rule is "5 minutes to feel blue" then that's it - move on and embrace the journey!