I had the esteemed honor to go with my brother Paul to chemo and his doctor's appointments on today. Let's just say... Life is Back in Perspective. Seeing him navigate through this world has shown me that he is not a little boy anymore. My little brother is a grown man...
As we went to get his bloodwork done, he was smooth sailing. We of course had a perfect example, as my mother went through this same form of treatment... The phlebotomist asked him the normal questions to verify his identity and then we were off to the races. He had his blood drawn without even flinching... Better than me I tell ya. We went back to the lobby just to be called back within 2 minutes. Best time in a Dr. office I can ever remember. Within 10 minutes we were in a conversation with Dr. Dang and he was telling us his findings.
He told my brother, "You are responding very well to the treatment. The knots are shrinking. After your PET scan, we may take you off of one of the medications." I was so relieved to hear those words. My brother smiled... The first real smile that I have seen in a while from him. Another really cool thing about CCI at Crestwood was the visible indicators that they believe in God. Faith was EVERYWHERE!
We stopped by Chick Fil A for a little bite to eat... I mean, who doesn't love Chick Fil A. We arrived to the Blackwell Tower for his treatment. I let him out so that I could park the car. I was met by an elderly couple that was having trouble at the elevator. I decided to help them down the stairs and get to their location. They were so sweet and so loving. Once I found my way to the office where his treatments were housed, I was not prepared for what came next.
The very sweet and loving receptionist (real talk, she was so sweet!) told me he was in Chair 8. I turned the corner and saw my brother in Chair 8 and I about lost it. So many feelings ran through my head again... WHY? Why him? Why do we do this again? Then I remembered... He's beating this thing, and God has the final say about everything. They started his port and he did his mouth the same way Mom did hers... Treatment has started and we sit and wait... We wait with the masses of others who are going through this terrible thing called cancer. However, we are NOT hopeless. We know that he will receive healing!
UPDATE- Treatment is over and we got a chance to spend some good time talking. I was able to see my other brothers when I took him home. Though he was weak, didn't feel good, and was overcome with feelings of nausea, my brother was a strong as our Mom taught us to be while she was going through her battle with cancer. We have planned a trip to go on to celebrate when he finishes chemo!!!
I had to get my thoughts out! Thanks for sharing this journey of life with me.
