A Day In The Sarcoma Center at MD Anderson

My first of three-a-year visits to MD Anderson Cancer Center was last week. I came home with another report of NED - No Evidence of Disease. I owe a thanks those whose notes of encouragement, thoughts and prayers were out there for me as I went through the process. We'll not worry again until my next visit.

Before we move on I have to tell you about my day in the Dr.'s office. The process is normally tests one day and the visit with the Dr. the next. My appointment Thursday was at 10. I did not get to see him until 3:30. It was evident by 11 that it was going to be a backed up day. You could tell by people's expressions in the waiting room and murmurings between patients and their families/caregivers. I hastily called and rescheduled my flight back to Tulsa to the last one of the day and hunkered down for the duration.

Faith is two years old. She was in Houston but her home is in Kansas. Her mommy has a sarcoma and was readying for another treatment plan. I never got around to asking her name, which I regret. Faith was born at MD Anderson while her mommy was fighting her second battle with cancer - hence her name. One of our doctor's nurses insisted Faith and her mommy live with her for the 1st month of Faith's life. Daddy was back home in Kansas with the two other boys trying to keep life as normal as possible for them.

Chester is a little older than me. He was from a small town in NE Texas. He was there with his wife and two daughters who are school teachers but took time off to come to Houston with their dad. Chester had his first bout with his sarcoma in 2000. It came back in 2005 and the cut it out again. They found it in his lungs on Monday. He and the doctor were drawing up their strategy on this day as well. As Chester and I bit our bottom lips and blinked back our tears we talked of our brotherhood in our common struggles - surgeries, radiation and the specific chemotherapy for sarcoma cancer. He knew he was going to get chemo again and this was an excruciating time for him and he needed his family close.

Both individuals above told me to NEVER stop coming for the regularly scheduled check ups. The Doctor tells me that every time I visit. But their stories of recurrence were sobering reminders of why you go back for visits. My inconvenience to moving to a later flight was minor compared to what these folks were facing.

The doctor gave me my pass until next visit and apologized for being 5 1/2 hrs late. Our eyes locked and he said, "I wish there were more of you today. It has not been a good day."

You think your days at work are bad? See one of my blogs from New Years day, Lucky Man.

This is not meant to be a downer of a note. These two comrades of mine were not down. As a matter of fact each of us spoke of each day as a "bonus."

How do you look at your days?

"This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."