I’ll never understand how life can be so unfair sometimes. This morning, I was flagged down by S, the lady that lives diagonally across and to the left of my house. She and another, elderly woman were working in the yard of my next door neighbor, R. I was on my way to work when she stopped me to drop the news. R’s daughter, A, has cancer of the kidney. A is 5 years old, y’all. The family was just informed on Wed. and things are a little rocky now. From my understanding, the docs found a tumor and when they were operating to remove it, they discovered that another tumor had already exploded inside of A. Now, they don’t know how far it has spread. A is at St. Jude for testing and treatment.
When we moved into our home almost 6 years ago, A hadn’t even been born. These days, we usually hear her laughter and sounds of her childish play in the backyard next to us every afternoon, while we watch tv. It breaks my heart to think this vivacious little girl has been struck down with such a horrific disease. Her parents must be dealing with unimaginable feelings of helplessness and fear. I can and will help out with anything that will unburden them in any way possible, but there’s nothing I can say or do that will take that pain away. No Hallmark card or homemade casserole can offer comfort or reassurance that everything will be okay.
It’s always difficult to find the right thing to say to someone that is dealing with tragedy. But, when it comes to talking about a parent of a cancer kid, absolutely nothing is adequate to express how sorry you are. How do you show them that you care and have confidence that God will take care of everything? What do you say to let them know that you are there for them and want to contribute, without reminding them of their pain? I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m trying.
Please, if you are reading this, keep A and her family in your thoughts and prayers. Also, remember the doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff that have to face these families and fight childhood diseases everyday. The struggle and frustration they must go through has to weigh heavily on their minds. I will update on her situation as soon as I find out what’s next.
If you are interested in cancer research and treatment here's a couple of links to check out:
http://www.wingscancerfoundation.org
http://www.stjude.org
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org
3 comments:
I just wanted to add to Lizzie901....When my cousin was going through all of her treatments, I mailed her a card once a week. I even mailed a few to her kids. Just a funny one or a Hi! I'm still here kinda thing. It took out any awkwardness and gave her reason to check the mail. Maybe, without really asking try to do the real neighbory things. Pick up trash, cut the yard if it needs it, put their trash at the curb. Nothing can make it all go away, but it might be nice to help them not have the daily tasks to think about. St. Jude is a great place! Many of our alumni work there.
I teared up reading this. I can't imagine what A's parents are feeling. One important thing you have done is share a snip-it of their story, so there are more people that are going to be praying for little A. Keep us posted.
There really are no words of comfort but I feel for them and for what they are going through! They will be in my thoughts and prayers.
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