I went to visit the radiation oncologist today for my first real appointment. I got to the hospital and sat down at one of the chairs in the very large and unusually empty waiting area. I was feeling a bit nervous and not in a friendly chatty kind of mood. I took a deep breath as I still do when waiting to see the doctor, determined to keep to myself busy looking even though no one was there. I took out my phone and began to play a game to pass the time. Along comes an older gentleman who apparently looks around at the huge vacant room and the 15 or so empty chairs and decides to sit where? Yep, right by me. I look up from my phone to acknowledge him and gave a friendly smile and went back to my phone. I knew he wanted to talk to me and could feel him waiting for the ideal time to start a conversation. He apparently thought he found it.
He began the conversation asking me where I got my head scarf. He was an Indian man with a very thick accent and I was having a difficult time understanding him, but that didn’t stop him from talking. I put my phone down figuring Wheel of Fortune was going to have to wait. He was there waiting for his wife, who has uterine cancer. Our conversation came to a halt only when his frail looking wife in a wheelchair was finished with her appointment and wheeled back out to him. He was a very kind man and although his wife spoke even less English than he did, I felt a connection with her. Here we are, two women with so many differences, and yet we had cancer in common. I began to wonder what her prognosis was and felt bad for her knowing she was going through this scary situation in a country she may/may not be familiar with and unable to fully communicate to the doctors and nurses. She looked old and tired. I wondered how her journey was going and how it would end. As they began to get ready to leave I wished them luck and the man looked at me and said in his broken English - cancer shouldn’t happen to someone my age and that cancer can happen to old people like him, but not a young mother like me. I was feeling bad for her because she was old and he was feeling bad for me because I was young. For some reason, this left me very emotional. He said something to her in their native language and without ever taking her eyes off of me she nodded to me. I sensed that the nod was meant to say “I wish you well and I hope your ongoing treatments go smoothly” although it may have been to say “I know my husband is a talker, sorry if he was bothering you and interrupting your ability to solve the puzzle.” I smiled and nodded back to say “I also wish you well” or “yes, your husband is a talker, but it’s okay and I’m ready to buy that vowel.”
Looking on the Bright Side…with all the time I have spent in waiting rooms, I have had the opportunity to practice my Wheel of Fortune and 4 pics 1 word skills.
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