Waiting To Say Goodbye

One of the inevitable parts of being a cancer patient is that you get to know other patients. Equally inevitable, however, is the fact that not everyone has a positive outcome. This week, one of my friends with whom I went through my cancer journey entered into hospice.

We had received our breast cancer diagnoses within several months of each other and occasionally met for coffee as we discussed our treatments. It was a safe conversation, as we were sharing similar experiences with similar fears that only someone in the same situation would “get”. We both enjoyed these opportunities to compare notes and allay anxieties. I had been publicly open about my cancer, but she was more private and circumspect about whom she told, so I was one of the few people who knew her condition.

But as our treatments came to a close, our paths began to diverge. My cancer treatment had been more straightforward because the drugs I was given were well-targeted to my type of tumor. Hers was a more complex situation – a more aggressive tumor with no clear targets, complicated by an existing chronic health condition. While I was declared cancer-free, diagnostic scans found “spots” in other parts of her body, tiny ones that had caused suspicion early on but had been too small to biopsy.

These sports grew larger and a biopsy confirmed her fears. Her cancer had spread. Due to her other health issue, she had not been able to tolerate the most prescribed and effective chemotherapy given to patients with her type of cancer tumor. Therefore, her best option was not available. Immunotherapy was attempted but that failed to produce positive results.

At this point, I was hearing about her disease progression second-hand as she wasn’t open to having coffee. I respect her reluctance to meet with me, because if the tables were turned, I don’t think I would have wanted to be discussing my worsening situation with someone who had been in a more fortunate position. Consider this analogy: you’re on a highway. The cars all drive at similar speeds and travel is pleasant. But if you need to pull over — perhaps there is car trouble — you suddenly feel like the world is passing you by. Every whoosh of an automobile is a reminder that you are not moving. You feel frustratingly stuck and left behind, wondering whether you’ll be able to re-join everyone else on the road again.

Her decline has come abruptly. She’d been living on her own all along, but then came dizziness and aches and pains. It started at the beginning of this past week. By Wednesday, her parents were setting up hospice in their home and had ‘round-the-clock care secured. So fast, so fast. It feels like we need to catch our breaths. No one is prepared for this.

I was told yesterday that she had only days left. I am in shock. I had originally planned to bring over bright gerbera daisies this morning, but decided against it, as she is not able to take visitors.

It’s raining hard today and for the next several days. The weather is uncharacteristically gloomy and foreboding for this part of the country. When she passes, I pray that her transition is gentle and the sun is shining.