Positive Affirmations and Stacks of Mail

The New Sign on Will's Door

Today was a hard day.  Willie had a spell of nausea at 6 AM after taking some pills on on an empty stomach.  He threw the pills up and slept the rest of the morning away.  His Mom and Sister showed up just before 1 PM and we visited a bit before the Giants game came on.  That always lifts Will's spirits.  Thank goodness this all happened during baseball season so there is a game to look forward to each day!  Our friend called us and read the article that was written about Will in the Valley Mirror.  Tim did a nice job in writing the article and we were flattered about the nice things he said.  We are continually amazed at the outpouring of kindness we are experiencing from the community.  It is humbling and inspiring.  We will forever be grateful to each of you for your prayers, kind words, donations and support. 
We talked the other day about how we will never be the same after this experience.
"How do you want our lives to be different after we leave here?" I asked Will.
"I want to be healthy," he said. 
That was stating the obvious. I want that too. We all want that!
We talked further about how we want to be better people.  We want to treat others the way we have been treated and to savor each day with greater joy.  I don't know how anyone can endure an event like this and not come out changed for the better.  I suppose a lot of that has to do with one's mindset, but there is nothing but good things to come.
Last night my Mom and I made positive affirmations to hang around the room.  She created a beauty of a sign that reads "The best is yet to come."  When she showed it to Willie he gave us a sleepy smile and said "That's true."
He is magnificent.
I watch him endure this trial and wish I could do it for him, or at least help him carry the burden.
ENDURE.
We read a spiritual thought tonight that taught us that the definition of this word means to withstand with courage.
If that doesn't define Willie perfectly, I don't know what does!

Mail, Office Work and an IV Pole.  

We've been gone for 11 days now and I couldn't believe how much mail we have accumulated.  Tammy brought us the giant stack from home and it took us hour to sort through it all!
"What happens to people who are in the hospital that don't have anyone to help them sort through their mail?" I asked Tammy as I opened, yet another hospital bill. (For goodness sake!  How are we getting hospital bills already!!!)
"I don't know," Tammy replied "I guess the mail just piles up."
I looked at the 2 foot stack of mail and shuddered to think what would happen if we left it untouched any longer. 
The guy in the room 4 doors down from us probably has alot of mail piled up at his house.  My Mom and I met him yesterday and marveled at how similar our stories are.  Like us, he had just purchased a new business when he came down with the flu.  His doctor put him on antibiotics which improved  his health enough to keep working.  A few weeks later he was flat in bed again.  This is when his Dr. ran labs and he was in the hospital days later with the same Leukemia diagnosis as Willie.  He is on his second round of Chemo and is laking in the hope department.  I asked him if it would be alright if my husband wanted to talk to him at some point since their stories are so similar.
"For sure," he said "tell him he can talk to me any time he wants.  I'll just tell him it sucks...but he probably already knows that."
I was stunned in the silence that followed his remark.  I know that's true, everyone in the cancer unit knows it's true, but something about the way he spoke it made me feel like all hope in the universe was lost.  He must have felt the air change because he quickly added
"It probably doesn't suck so bad for him though, cuz he's got you to help him keep things straight on the outside.  I don't have anyone to count on." 
He then added that he did have a girlfriend, but she was too pretty to rely on.
I wonder how pretty one must be to be TOO pretty to be reliable.  Thank goodness I'm not too pretty!
I felt sorry for him, but at the same time admired him for being so proactive with his own health care without any help.  I hope we learn more about this fascinating neighbor.
Tonight Willie will receive his final chemo treatment.  It will happen at 3 AM so I guess it is technically tomorrow, but we are happy that this leg of the journey will be over.  We're not sure what to expect in the coming days, but at least we have each other and I'm not too pretty to be unreliable!  I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and doing something fun for Memorial Day.  We're still making our plans for the big holiday.  We might get crazy and eat some patriotic colored Jello or something....