After disappearing from the blog for ever, I decided to reappear. I guess I don't quite like to close the chapter as I do believe in stories that go on. I came across this entry in a blog that I'd like to share with you.
FROM DJ:
Ralph, one of my favorite quotes is by the poet Muriel Rukeyser: “The universe is made up of stories, not of atoms.” We have to tell the stories in which we become characters, willing or unwilling as we may be. And if you feel you can’t talk to someone, talk to yourself in a journal. I only find out what I’m truly thinking once I open my notebook and start scribbling. Sometimes, it’s not the cancers that kill, but the silences.
All the Best, Dana
— Ralph
Friday, September 11, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Who Knew?
When you're going through a life altering experience, it is quite easy to become completely engulfed in your own suffering and misery, knowing for a fact that things could not be worse for anyone else. You become enveloped in a little bubble which tends to block other people out completely.
And I was pretty much the same during most of 2008. But in November of last year, a close friend's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. For the first time, I saw what it was like for the primary care-giver to deal with the 'cancer experience'. And it shocked me.
I had never really given much thought to what my mother (who was my primary care-giver) went through during my cancer experience. We talked about it only recently, and I found out that she had to face the fact that I may die, a truly scary thought for any parent. Couple that with the constant worry that I may catch a cold or a cough which could be life threatening given my low immunity levels, concern about my diet and that I was taking all the right medications, managing visitors, doctor's appointments, hospital bills, insurance details.... and of course, dealing with the inescapable grief - how could this happen to US???
When you hear of someone sick with a life threatening illness, you are overcome with pity and sympathy for the person who is suffering. But you don't always need to be sick to be the one that is suffering and in pain, or the one who is more in need of empathy and support.
And I was pretty much the same during most of 2008. But in November of last year, a close friend's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. For the first time, I saw what it was like for the primary care-giver to deal with the 'cancer experience'. And it shocked me.
I had never really given much thought to what my mother (who was my primary care-giver) went through during my cancer experience. We talked about it only recently, and I found out that she had to face the fact that I may die, a truly scary thought for any parent. Couple that with the constant worry that I may catch a cold or a cough which could be life threatening given my low immunity levels, concern about my diet and that I was taking all the right medications, managing visitors, doctor's appointments, hospital bills, insurance details.... and of course, dealing with the inescapable grief - how could this happen to US???
When you hear of someone sick with a life threatening illness, you are overcome with pity and sympathy for the person who is suffering. But you don't always need to be sick to be the one that is suffering and in pain, or the one who is more in need of empathy and support.
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