The Good: The waiting room in the radiation unit is often busy, and you can easily find yourself on top of someone else’s conversation... “I’d do anything if I could go home and enjoy a beer, I bought some Guiness but couldn’t get it down” or “I can’t wait for my hair to grow back so I can feel more like myself again” or “my boys in the radiation unit take such good care of me” or “I hope I can enjoy food again and not have to rely on liquid meals” and the chatter goes on and on...
Nobody talks about money, jobs, or how so and so or such and such has wronged them... conversations are light; many of us just want to get back the simple things we had.
The Bad: When you buy a ticket to Cancer Land, you check your privacy at the door. It’s hard to know where to look as you may lock eyes with someone who’s face is wet from tears, a man who weeps by his mothers bedside, or an elderly person who’s lost their way wandering aimlessly with an open gown... even alone in the room where they radiate, when you have a few minutes to try and escape your brain, you know someone is watching.
The What the ???: It seems hospitals aren’t complete without the token cranky bitch at reception, and the radiation unit is no different.
I’ve stood my ground when her inner demons emerged, and I didn’t back off when her head bowed and I got a glimpse of her horns... can you blame me that I shared this with the coordinator who asked for feedback on how my “radiation experience” could be a more enjoyable one... tsk tsk, apparently you’ve shown your pitchfork to others, no sooner had I started to speak that they knew what the problem was and who it was with.
How about you trade in your sharp tongue for a pair of white fluffy wings... keep the horns though, you can hang your halo off it.
Lessons Learned: Many of you saw Jack Layton’s last letter to Canadians, the last paragraph chalked onto the sidewalk a few blocks from home...
“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”
When I think of chalk, I think of hopscotch, and now these chalked words are spilling into my boxes. Loving: spending time with friends; Hopeful: your rock will land on the right square; Optimistic: you won’t tip over picking it up.
Life is a game and the outcome could be determined by how well we play it; I hope I don’t tip over :)
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