Arm Saxophone Music

The couple lived near the Chattahoochee River that is the border between Alabama and Georgia, and we talked about our cancer struggles standing in line at the Genitourinary registration desk.  They were also both cancer survivors facing new challenges with their journeys.  As I looked around the waiting room, I saw couples waiting in many different ways.  Some men slept as their wives and families watched anxiously, one couple worked on a crossword puzzle, another tried to keep their grandkids under control reminding them several times to use their inside voices.  MaryBeth leaned on my shoulder, softly wrapping her fingers around my arm gently playing me like a saxophone.  The tune she played and her warmth helped me drift off as I felt the music deep inside “life has a way of working out”.   

In two weeks of flushing out the Sutent targeted chemo, my cancer markers were up and the tumors on my left hip and adrenal gland had grown.  My white and red blood cells counts were too low to start the docetaxel infusion, so we decided to wait a few days and scheduled my first infusion for Thursday afternoon.  My first thought after the delay decision was I had be given a 2-day reprieve and would be 100% present for MaryBeth and her surgery Wednesday morning.  As my oncologists left the treatment room MaryBeth and I stood, hugged, and as she wept, I felt deep inside, “Life has a way of working out”.  When I returned to my office I read an email from a good friend about my spirit of grit and patience, and I felt a smile deep inside “Life has a way of working out”.  Believe in life today!