Our Turn

Bobby and I took my brother, Tommy, into Dana Farber today for his radiation and chemo. It has been a day I have been looking forward to in a weird way. He has had 4 other chemo days and has been going to radiation 5 days a week since after Thanksgiving. I have been working on those days so other family members have taken him. Today was our day! 

We passed Fenway Park on our way in to the city.

Radiation was pretty quick so we waited in the cafeteria for over an hour. Tommy cannot taste anything and has sores in his mouth and throat, both things making it very difficult to eat or want to eat. His go to is tapioca pudding and apple juice.

We took a walk through the healing garden. It was very peaceful and made me feel better. Tommy's left cheek is swollen and red from the radiation which is making it hard to talk and smile.

We got to meet his adorable Dr (when did Drs get so young?). He has a house on the Cape, so of course we bribed him with lobster and clams. Dr was pleased with the progress and sent us on to chemo.

There is something to be said for seeing your brother hooked up to different drugs, one being called "poison" and acting like it is natural and normal. I did what I could, but mostly we just hung out, amused him with a few stories and one of us had a nap.

People often call people fighting cancer brave. Tommy is brave, but the things that impressed me the most was his kindness. He was polite to everyone. He engaged in conversations about Christmas with his nurses. He offered a woman his chair. He asked his Doctor to come out to the waiting room to meet us. He thanked everyone. He is awesome. I am more than impressed and proud of his integrity.

When you are in a hospital all day, you forget about time and the outside world. I happened to take a trip to the bathroom at sunset. It was beautiful and gave me hope.

When we went to the valet to get the car, the 3 of us were waiting in a circle (triangle). I looked down and in the middle of us on the floor was a shiny penny. I know that that was a sign from our friend MJ who died when he was 16 and we were in our late teens/twenties. We will take all the signs and prayers we can get to cure Tommy of this sucky disease.