Like Mother - 16

I cried when I read Dori’s entry today. It brought back memories of her pain and struggle as a teenager, so full of promise and life, right at the time of high school graduation, being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. So while her friends were partying and packing to leave home and excitedly venture off to their respective colleges, she was preparing for major surgery, subsequent treatments, and surgery again.

Sid, Lynn, Lindsey and Chris sent me a wonderful get well card (thank you guys!). In it Lynn wrote, “Do everything Dori says…she’s a pro”. And indeed she is. I prayed that I would be as accepting of the illness and as a good a patient as Dori was, and still is. She never missed a beat, always thinking ahead to her future plans and treating the cancer as if it was just an inconvenience, a bump in the road that she was determined to get past.

Okay, sure she was crabby sometimes – maybe even a lot. Physically, it’s easy to understand this as the thyroid controls so many of our body’s hormones. I cannot even begin to understand the emotional component. At 17, I was living the high life. Although I considered myself a mature person, I don’t know what I would have been like having been dealt the same hand at that time. In my mind, Dori is nothing short of amazing – even if she is my daughter.

As for the young man Dori spoke of in her post – his name is Seth. Seth stood by her, cared for her, took a lot of guff, and never stopped giving. Dori is right about that. We loved him and thought of him as part of our family. I don’t think I could ever thank him sufficiently or convey in words how much it meant to me that he loved my daughter enough to see her through that very difficult time in her life, without hesitation and without complaint.

They say that when the chips are down, you find out who your real friends are. True that! I am still in awe of the folks who have reached out to me. Conversely, I am stunned by some of those who haven’t (but we won’t go there).

So for today, I am grateful to my friends and family for their support, calls, cards, flowers, and continued well-wishes. As Dori said so many times, we couldn’t do this without you.

Love & Hugs. 

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