My Journey to
Radiation…
September
8, 2013
For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of
your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you!! Isaiah 41:13
It is another long day for me. After work there is a smile on my face as I
greet the bus driver on the M42 bus to go crosstown to First Avenue, where I
change to the M15 bus that drops me off at the Radiation Building. God rides with me! In the Radiation Building all adults are
scheduled for afternoons/evenings as the mornings are reserved for
children. We all gather in the main
waiting area. Unless you’ve lost your hair due to chemo, you cannot tell who is
here for radiation and who is here to support.
Across from me sits a big strapping construction worker with his heavy
work boots; then a very tall, distinguished older gentleman in his Armani suit walks
in talking on his I-phone; a middle-aged woman sits with her knitting needles
and next to her is a very young lady who never stops texting.
Kenny calls us out one by one… “Ms. Sandy, please get
undressed!” I grab a robe and a key for the locker and head to the changing
area.
In the inner waiting area our nakedness defines our
battle. The suits are gone, boots,
needles… no more texting. Under our
robes I begin to recognize… those naked from the waist up are battling cancers
of the upper body: breast, thyroid, brain. Those naked from the waist down are
battling testicular, cervical, ovarian and other pelvic cancers. Yeah, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me…
There isn’t much conversation, not much
friendliness. I guess everyone is
concentrating on their own survival. I
talk anyway, and find out we are all recovering from a surgeon’s scalpel… we’ve
all lost a summer.
I thank God for Kenny, Ava, Juan, Gerard, David,
Jennifer, Mark and all the others who work there. They greet me with a smile and a kind word
every day. Ava is like one of my
girlfriends, we talk and laugh out loud.
The security guard in the Chemo Building greets everyone with a smile
and God’s words flows from his lips every time I see him. It blows my mind to think how many people
they see every day, fighting a battle, wrapped up in the battle. Where is God?
He’s right here! … thy
rod and thy staff, they comfort me…
Your words and your prayers continue to uplift
me. Juan and David tell me I smile a lot. It’s simply the God in me, for I wouldn’t
have the strength to do this on my own. Maya
Angelou has said “…He has created the
leaves and the trees, the birds and the insects and I am humbled that God loves
me!”
God loves me! Amen! Love you all.
Charmaine
Yvette
P.S. Thank you Gilbert – I love you! I
am always amazed by your creative use of ingredients… in addition to the
cheddar and ketchup sandwich, the new menu item – stewed string beans and
plantains… together! I came home to a
feast fit for the entire Brooklyn this week. Gilbert baked 10 lbs of fish, 20
lbs of potatoes, cooked 2 lbs of rice, peas, spinach and stewed string beans
and plantains. J It’s a very
welcome sight as I get home close to 9:00pm each day and it will
last all of September!
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