Sundays, Eclipses and Good Advice

Sundays are magical.  I have always loved Sundays and consider them to be a day of rest.  That is exactly what Sunday turned out to be for us.  We got to sleep in until 8 AM then the doctors made their rounds and gave us an update.  They had spoken with the oral surgeon and said that Willie would have the infected teeth removed on Monday.  He would be put on the waiting list for surgery so there was no way of knowing what time he would be able to get in.  We joked about needing to check out calendars to see what we could shift around to make room for the surgeon's schedule.  Turns out out calendars were wide open! 
We told the team about the abrupt visit from the oral surgeon the night before and we all shared a good laugh.  There is nothing like having a good laugh with people who are healing you.  Laughter really is the best medicine and we are finding moments every day to enjoy it.  In the afternoon, Will's parents and Uncle returned and we spent some time together walking the halls and checking out more of the art.  The boys watched baseball and Will's Mom and I slipped away for a quick trip to the mall.  It felt good to be out of the hospital room, but I felt a low level of anxiety the entire time I was away from Will.  He's not even on chemo yet, or in any sort of medical danger, but the thought of something happening and me not being there freaks me out.
I got back to the hospital just in time to get Will in his mask and walk outside to see the solar eclipse.  The last time I experienced one was in 4th grade.  We had made paper projectors to watch the eclipse without burning our eyes.  It is made by getting two pieces of paper and poking a pin hole in one of them.  The paper with the pin hole is held up to the sun and projected on the second paper which is held below.  When I did it in grade school I couldn't figure out how it worked.  I remember watching all the other kids ooh and ahh as they saw something miraculous on their pieces of paper.  I, on the other hand, saw nothing.  You wouldn't have known it though because I oohed and ahhed along with the other kids so I wouldn't be the odd man out.  The kids at school talked about that magical moment for weeks afterward and I pretended to be in the crowd of those who had seen it until the novelty wore off. 

Eclipse Magic

Today was my chance to redeem myself.  I told Willie this story as I created a projection device with the only thing I could find: a Trader Joe's paper bag and a push pin.
We took the projecter outside and set ourselves up in front of the glass enterance to the hospital.  There were people milling around, taking pictures and talking excitedly about what was happening.  The light from the sun was dimmed, casting a subtle shadow over the gardens that surrounded us.  Next to me, a man in a surgeon's coat held a special lens to his eye and explained the majesty of the eclipse.  People lined up to use his lens as I quietly stood next to them and lifted my first piece of paper bag above the other.  What appeared was a perfect projection of a crescent sun!  I was amazed.  It actually worked!  I was now a part of the cool kids group who had seen an eclipse!  People began to gravitate toward me, asking about my curious projection system.  They wanted to know how I thought that up and what my profession was to make me so intellegent.  The surgeon even put down his eclipse glass and came to observe my neanderthal version which he exclaimed to be pure genius.  At one point I had a crowd of 20 people surrounding me, oohing and ahhing in the way that my 4th grade class did so long ago.  I called to Willie to take a picture, but he had disappeared somewhere beyond the crowd. 
I posed for pictures and slapped high fives with strangers all around then sat on a bench next to a woman with a dog to wait for Willie. 
As we go talking I learned that she was waiting for her best friend to come out of the hospital to see the dog.  Her friend was here with her Fiance who was in the same cancer unit with us.  Unfortunately, the fiance has stage 4 cancer and is rapidly fading away.  As we spoke I was filled with gratitude for our circumstance.  We are so blessed to have caught Willie's cancer early.  We could have easily continued on the way we are, passing his symptoms off as a simple toothache and his fatigue could be written off as long hours of work.  We wouldn't have known anything was wrong until he developed a serious infection.  By that point it may have been too late.  We asked the doctors about this very thing and they said that is how most cancers become deadly because the symptoms can easily be explained away.  This has taught us how important it is to maintain regular healthcare visits and to be intune with your own body so you can know when things are out of balance.  We encourage everyone to do the same. 

Grassfed Mealoaf and Organic Veggies
in the Hospital?!?!  You Bet!!!

We came back and enjoyed a relaxing dinner.  Our nurse for the past 2 nights has been a wonderful woman from Thailand named Pensri.  She is very motherly with Will and takes note of the simple things that other nurses seem to miss.  For example, the first night we met her she looked over Will's arms that were bruised and needle pricked and tisked softly to herself. 
"Who did this?" she asked her sharp accent that always seems to be accusing.
Will explained that it was from the nurses at the previous hospital.  She tisked again, shaking her head. 
"This is no good," she said "I will fix it." 
She then spent some time cleaning the tape residue from around the bruises and adjusting his new PICC line side.  When she was finished he looked better than he has in days.  From that moment, Pensri earned a place in both of our hearts.  We had developed a routine with her each night of her taking vital signs, giving medication, then she spends some time talking about what to expect with the chemo.  She has been a nurse for over 25 years and has a wealth of knowledge in the area of chemo treaments.  This night she ran Willie's vitals then took a relaxed stance next to the sink.
"I have been doing this job for too many years," she said "and I have come to learn what it is that sets apart survivors from those who don't make it.  I want to tell you the secret of the survivors."
She had our full attention!  She went on to explain that over the years she has noticed that those who survive cancer do the following:
1. Eat good food.
2. Drink ALOT of water
3. Move around every day
4. Laugh at least 4 times a day
5. Have a positive mental outlook.
She then looked around the room as if observing every corner of the structure then looked back at us.
"This is a good room," she said with a big smile on her face "there is good energy here.  Good things happen with good energy."
We agree!  We are trying our best to keep up the positive attitude and unconditional optimism.  There is a fine line between optimism and denial and I think we are walking on the safe side.  There is nothing but hope for our case and every expert we have talked to agrees that we are lucky for catching the cancer early and have Will's age and physical fitness on our side. 
Pensri left us with one final thought that night.
"When you wake up in the morning, do you know what your last thought was before you fell asleep the night before?"
We looked at eachother and shrugged.  I wasn't sure where she was going with this.
She went on to explain "The mind is the most powerful tool and it works all night long while we sleep.  If you feed yourself positive thoughts before you fall asleep you will think them all night long and wake up with positive energy."
Oh how she speaks the truth! I am a firm believer in the power of the mind.  We truly create our own destiny through our thoughts.  This was great advice that I pass along because it applies to everyone in any situation you may be in. 

Try it tonight.  You will wake up unstoppable!