On the way home from handing our granddaughter back to her mother, we stopped by for a short visit with a dear friend who is three-quarters way through chemo and radiation for colon cancer. She looks and feels like hell, tired and drained, and is frustrated with the whole situation. She said she'd been sick so long it felt like forever.
It reminded me of when I was about 8 months along in one of my pregnancies. I was completely tired of being pregnant. I wasn't sick. I didn't have any big pregnancy-related problems. I was just weary of waddling, of not sleeping well, of having to sit at the doctor's office, of struggling to get into and out of the car. The 24/7-ness of being pregnant was exhausting. If only pregnancy were a butcher's apron that I could take off once in a while and hang on a hook, even just for an hour.
I knew I would not be pregnant the rest of my life. But in the moment, it sure seemed like it, and it didn't help to have people tell me I only had a month to go. Easy for them to say.
I struggled to find words to say to my friend. Assuming she can tolerate it, she only has 5 more radiation treatments. But I'm not the one with nausea and exhaustion. I'm not facing surgery. I decided it was enough to sit together for a little bit. We will have good times soon. Now she needs to spend all of her energy on staying alive through the cure, not listening to platitudes.
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