Chemo Date

Last week I spent a morning at a Cancer Center with a friend. She was receiving one of her twice-monthly infusions of chemotherapy. My job was to keep her entertained, or just sit with her and support her while she endured a morning of treatment. And so it was, that I embarked upon my first Chemo Date.

There was so much to see and take in. The waiting room was with people of all ages, who were about to receive harsh medications, which would surely induce unwanted side effects, but help prolong their lives. I could feel the collective strength emanating from ordinary people who are faced with extraordinary challenges.

During the infusion, my friend shared a room with a young mother, who was receiving regular treatments at the center. She had delivered her baby five months earlier and we asked about the delivery. Hers was not just a high-risk pregnancy, her respiratory and cardiac arrest during labor, made it a life and death experience. She had such severe high blood pressure and other complications from her illness, that she was lucky to be alive. And though her baby is growing and developing normally, she continues to worry about what effects her illness and the lack of oxygen during the cardiac arrest will have on him. She didn’t wake up from her coma and see her baby until he was five days old! Imagine that!

She feels that each day with her baby is a gift, and is trying to enjoy every day that she has with him. Some days she feels well enough to care for him, some days she has to be away from him at the cancer center.

This is one mother’s story. Was she able to breastfeed? And, does it really matter?