This picture says it all. Let me explain. Less than a week before this picture was taken, my husband received a diagnosis of cancer of the small intestine (small bowel cancer). In an instant we were violently thrown into a world of doctors, medicine, and fear. As you can imagine, we immediately prioritized every obligation in our life to focus on what what was absolutely essential. Since we had an 11 year old in the house, the short list of essentials included keeping her routine as normal as possible. So off we went to church on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 8am to serve as Vacation Bible Camp volunteers, and on Thursday we headed instead to the hospital for my husband’s colonectomy.
In case you are wondering, I am the one in the sunglasses, covering up those red, swollen eyes and my husband is the crazy man in the back with his mouth wide open!
Were we as happy as we looked? Well, yes and no. One thing I’ve learned for sure is you can be both happy and sad or worried and hopeful at the same time. A cancer diagnosis pushes you to settle in and deal with all kinds of grey area in your emotional life. Learning to accept that is one of the hardest, but most important, steps you’ll take.
lovecommacancer 