Today was our annual Thanksgiving luncheon at the office. This is the office that I work out of. I don't work for them, but I spend my office days with them so they are as close to co-workers as anyone has been.
We had a bountiful supply of food. I got off easy this year. I brought pop. Or, as some say - soda. I made it easy on myself today. Seriously, there was no need for more food. I ate everything I placed on my plate. It was all that good. I didn't come across anything that tasted bad. Everybody got along, the atmosphere was relaxed and humorous. It was indeed, a beautiful event.
In the back of my mind was the previous assistant superintendent. Last year at this time, she retired. She is suffering from a severe bout of bone cancer. She noticed that her back just wasn't feeling better after she worked so hard in her garden this summer. It is normal to have a back ache during such strenuous activity. It became serious.
Here are some words from her sister:
...yesterday after getting the results of her MRI. It seems even the good news was bad news. The tumor on and in her spine has continued to shrink and that is good news. But cancer by its very definition is a"space-occupying lesion". As the tumor has shrunk, there is no healthy tissue where it once was. The cancer ate it and it is gone from her spine. Without this bone tissue, there is no support and therefore the remaining tissue has been stressed and she has suffered several fractures of all 5 lumbar disks. Bone snaps like a dried stick and the splintered shards embed in the surrounding nerves and tissues and this has worsened her pain considerably. The compression of the crumbling bone also puts pressure on her spinal nerves and this also causes more pain. Her oncologist increased her pain medicine so at this point she is able to get relief. The plan now is to continue chemo cycle #5, begun yesterday.....
And my coworker from my office told me about her father suffering in the hospital with his own bone cancer. I feel so bad for them. So much pain, such a serious sobering atmosphere in midst of our joking and laughing.
Give thanks? Yes, I think I will.
3 comments:
Don't know quite what to say. I have heard similar news about a distant colleague from someone who attended a recent conference. This cancer is Satanic in its attacks. I hate it.
I know first hand what you both mean. My husband has MULTIPLE MYELOMA it is an incurable cancer but very treataable and if attacked aggressively can be put into remission. It attacks the bone marrow, and compromises the bone structure, mind you it isn't bone cancer. He is going into the hospital to have a hip replacement this tuesday, and in January(possibly) he will be having a stem cell transplant, his own cells, harvested from his blood stream. Never did he have any pain, it was found by accident. He tooo has a lesion on his back, a tumor really, but nothing has been problematic with the spine. Hopefully your collegue has great doctors and is seeking all of the latest treatments. My husband is seeing a doc here on Long Island, but a specialist in Manhattan is going to do the stem cell transplant, and an ortheapedic oncologist is doing the hip replacement surgery at an additional hospital in Manhattan.
I have many blessings this Thanksgiving, among them is that my husband's cancer was detected while it was still treatable. That means that I will have him for a long time to come. We just have to get through this rough patch now and then we will move into remission, and managability.
Miki - I hope everything goes smoothly for you and your husband. What an ordeal. This disease is such a monster.
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