Courage

Hardship can come in many forms, and affect each individual as much by its nature as by the way it challenges the person themselves.  Imagine you are a 21-year-old, rising-senior, All-American college football player with your future full of NFL passion, promise and profit.  And then you wake up one day to learn that you have Ewing’s sarcoma - a rare form of bone cancer. That’s what happened to Boston College football linebacker extraordinaire Mark Herzlich.  His story of overcoming adversity is inspirational (Mark Herzlich: What It Takes) - going from the crushing reality of cancer to the euphoria of being on the New York Giants 2011 Super Bowl champion team.

I have full respect for HIPAA laws and the privacy that they provide.  But I also can't control the fact that though the sensitively, ergonomically engineered "pods" at the Infusion Clinic are designed to create individualized isolation and comfort through their modern / minimalist layout, some patients and nurses tend to speak a bit louder than others.  Case in point, the mother and 20-something son who happened to be kitty-corner and within ear-shot of my space.  From their 3-way conversations, I was able to glean that this young man had also been diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma.  I could tell from snippets of their exchanges and the uncertainty of their actions, that they were in the beginning phases of the journey. The mom had concern in her eyes, and worry in her body language and nurturing fussings.  The son seemed detached from the moment and attached to his phone.  That could easily have been as much an age-expectable choice as well as a safe hiding place from the cancerous mayhem within and clinical (though compassionate) environment around him.

I wanted to just go up to the mom and son, give them a group hug, tell them that it was going to be alright, and share the encouraging Mark Herzlich story with them.  That would have likely shattered most social conventions and potentially gotten me arrested - despite my good intentions.  So, I just radiated my strongest healing vibes in hopes of spreading courage and calm to console their current chaos.