Memories from our retreat.

The picture on the blog tonight is from the caregiver/patient retreat that we were able to attend when we went to Houston for my last check up. That retreat was so wonderful! The people were so wonderful! The staff was awesome. They even took pictures and made a cd for us which arrived in today’s mail. This picture is one from that cd. We had a painting class and they actually made our paintings look pretty amazing! We scratched out some stuff and then the wonderful teacher made a few strokes and made it look decent. Then she stamped a seal on there and glued a mat onto it and it really looked amazing for a bunch of absolute amateurs! Someday I’ll have Don take a picture of me with my painting and you’ll see that it’s pretty amazing what a real artist can do with someone as clumsy as me. We were all amazed and it was good for us to do such a thing.

The women in the picture with me are a really amazing women. The one with the really short hair had leukemia and had bone marrow transplant in April. They say when they have those transplants their life is really starting all over because they may have different tastes for food, etc. It’s like they wake up from the surgery feeling much like someone else. Her caregiver’s brother died the morning they were to come to the retreat, so she had to come alone. We first met her when she was asking for someone who could give her a shot. There was nobody around who felt comfortable doing it, so I told her I had given myself allergy shots years ago, so I could do it. What an introduction! I don’t even remember when I gave myself those shots, but I think it must have been over 40 years ago. I guess it’s like riding a bike; one of those things on never forgets? Anyway, we built a quick trusting relationship!

The girl right next to me was such an example to me! 4 ½ years ago she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. The prognosis for her was 3-6 months, but she is still alive and doing beautifully. She now has cancer in her bones, her adrenal glands, both lungs, her lymph glands, and her brain. Those are all the places that breast cancer tends to metastasize, so her attitude and behavior was such a boost to me since she has everything that I could face. She looked at everything and loved it; I shake my head in awe just recalling her. Every time I face any challenge I remind myself that she faced everything with love and looked for the good in it. I thank God for making that weekend possible for us and for giving us the opportunity to meet those awesome people.