I turned out to be a bigger deal for me than I thought it would.
Seriously, it was big!
I came really close to crying.
My outfit for the day was a winged pig with the theme, "Chemo may be over, but I won't stop fighting until pigs fly."
I made a ton of winged pig cookies to give to well, everyone and brought a huge basket of stuff to give away.
Friends and loved ones have been so generous but there were so many things that I wasn't going to use. Rather than have them sit on a shelf in a closet, I thought it would be best to take the basket with me. I put a large note on the front that said, "If there is something here that could help you or a loved one, please take it."
I put it on a table in the waiting area and told everyone there to help themselves and they did!
As usual I bounced around at chemo handing out cookies, talking with the other patients and staff and laughed a lot!
Then we headed home and, as usual, I was crazy busy Friday and Saturday nights!
For a number of years now I have volunteered for the Silent Auction Committee for the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce at the Annual Gala. We have such a good time and the money we raise goes to the scholarship fund for graduating seniors.
This year, due to covid, we had to change the date and the location of the event. It's normally held in March but we had to postpone until September and I am proud to say that it was a huge success!
Fortunately, because it was on a Saturday night, I was still hopped up on steroids from chemo the day before. I felt great and had plenty of energy to get through the event and finish a cake when I got home.
Speaking of the steroids...I have gained about 15 pounds during this experience and had nothing to wear.
I had to be at the venue at 4:30. I didn't discover the wardrobe issue 2pm. Needless to say, I was pretty freaked out!
I called a friend of mine, who had lost a bunch of weight, hoping that she hadn't cleaned out her closet, to see if she had something I could borrow and...
She did!!!
I went from having nothing, to having a gorgeous dress that fit like it was made for me.
Woohoo!!!
So relieved.
The only problem was that the bodice would flop open if I leaned forward.
Huge shout out to Tina at the The Stone Barn in Kennett Square. She found a huge box of safety pins and helped me pin the bodice closed so my scars wouldn't traumatize anyone.
After we got the dress pinned Tina headed out to finish setting up and I stayed in the ladies room to do my make-up and bedazzle my head.
It was a wonderful night with great food, fantastic music and a lovely venue.
I have been a member of the chamber since I opened my business. So many friends came over to congratulate me on ringing the bell.
We talked about my decision to not wear a wig and about my bedazzled head.
They also shared stories of loved ones who are fighting the battle now.
I am blessed.
All things considered my fight has been an easy one and my prognosis is excellent.
Yeah, I have side effects that I'm still dealing with but everything could have been so much worse.
I'm seriously considering becoming a volunteer at the cancer center.
I enjoy talking to the other patients, finding ways to make both patients and staff laugh and help take the weight off their shoulders for a while.
It feels good to help people and if something good can come from this then maybe that's why I was there to begin with.
No comments:
Post a Comment