Momma

I talked to my Mom this morning, and she gagged & became nauseous while we were on the phoen together.

Horrible drugs these chemotherapeutic medicines are. It really sounds like an oxymoron: "chemo"-"therapy." This drug is a poison in your veins that is designed to seek & destroy life -- cancerous life that doesn't belong in your body. And in the process, it saps you of life, to the point that you hardly feel alive. Nasty drug this chemotherapy is.

It's tough watching someone you love be so helpless & in such difficulty. One good thing is that it brings you closer together. My friend Daniel & I were recalling how the President of Harding University, Dr. David Burks, and his wife, Leah, dealt with the trauma of chemotherapy. Daniel, who had a special relationship with the Burks', marveled at how the process brought the Burks' closer together. He said that Dr. Burks especially began to appreciate his wife more.

I feel a little of the same way. Mom & I have a trying relationship. Partly because we have such divergent worldview's and we both happen to be pretty hard-headed. Nevertheless, this process has helped us put those differences aside for a little while & to cherish one another.

We've only scratched the surface of this chemotherapy treatment. Still at least three & a half months for us to go. And I can see already why they call this a "fight." And when somebody dies, it is that they "lost their battle with cancer." It is a war, and the cancer patient's body is the battle ground. Ever seen a nation look very good after a war? Not quite. I have a new appreciation for cancer survivors: You people are brave & strong.