Intro-10. IT AIN'T LIKE WHAT YOU THINK

Before I went to a cancer facility, I had strange ideas about the patients, how they looked and what they did. I envisioned people lying in bed, wearing night-wear all of the time, moving slowly or immobile. I saw them as quiet, silently praying, and seldom talking. How wrong could I be. Today’s cancer facilities do a lot of out-patient therapy. The patients, unless they’re in a scanning or exam room, wear stylish shoes and clothes. Only a few wore head coverings or cloth filters over their mouths. (Infections are a big issue in cancer hospitals because chemotherapy sometimes destroys white cells). They were intelligent and interesting, passing the time reading, talking, or listening to music. In a word, they were all normal people like you or me. If a person was sweet and caring before, they’re sweet and caring as a cancer patient. If they were obnoxious before, they’re obnoxious as a cancer patient. The only way they’re different is that they do what needs to be done, regardless who’s looking. This was discussed in another posting, but here’s an example.
One of the slowly dying myths of family living is that of men being stronger than women, which follows with the theory that men need to always be the leader. The cancer community quickly destroys these assumptions. Many times I observed a touching activity where a strong woman, acting as care-giver, would be pushing the wheel chair of her husband. Often she would wait for hours till he returned from a scan or test. In both cases the man had trouble sitting upright and so would hunch over. I saw tension in his eyes as he tried to take charge of the situation and give his opinion on what just happened during the scan, trying to have an authoritative role, yet facing the fact that he totally depended on his wife. In a way it’s refreshing, though sad, to see people change roles and make it work.