Herceptin #17: Gasp!

Me, Patrick and Cancer Warrior - Marion

Well, this treatment left the entire chemo room startled as I gasped so loudly in the middle of my infusion that it sent the whole chemo nursing staff starting to run my way. But, as I put both of my hands up in the air quickly saying "I'm OK! I'm OK!" - it made me realize just how attentive my purple angels are to me and to all of the other patients they so selflessly serve.

Now here's the funny part (ya gotta know with me, there's always a funny part). What the nurses weren't privy to before I let out my apparently loud gasp, was the 10-minute conversation we had prior to my breathy outburst of expression.  A fellow breast cancer warrior (Marion), her husband Patrick, Hil  and I, were swapping stories about all of the stupid things people have said to us when Marion divulged one of the most shocking statements I've heard to date. And not to get anyone in trouble or anything (her mom!), but man, people can really utter and hypothesize some inappropriate conjecture (AKA, say some stupid sh*t!) in the face of a health crisis.

With that being said, may I just say, WHO IN THE HELL, tells you that "maybe those chemo medicines will finally help you lose that extra weight!" Seriously?! I am not blowing smoke up your I.V. infusion pole here, this sorry statement is sadly true. But, PS mommy dearest, your daughter happens to be one of the most beautiful, tall, slender, fashionable women I have ever met in the face of cancer. And one that is truly rocking her beautiful bald look. And clearly, she doesn't have a single 'lb' to lose! Oh, and one more thing, her name is the name of one of my favorite cousins that I grew up with, so back off Barbie!

But after the chemo room staff stopped in their tracks, they looked at me with such curiosity and bewilderment until the head purple angel (Martha) said, "We take gasps very seriously around here!" Pause..... and then we all started laughing before I quickly explained the tale behind my sudden outburst.

Head Purple Angel - Martha

And lastly, I know you've heard this before, but I find this time a worthy moment to remind you to follow one of the golden rules in life: If you have nothing nice to say, THEN DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL! Period. Done. End of story.

On a final note, may I say we all ended laughing so hard at all of the quips we have heard, that we finally just all sat in silence for a few seconds before looking at each other again and bursting into laughter in unison once more. And there you have it, laughter, one of the many silver linings of cancer.

So, with that, I'll just leave you with a link to my do's and dont's about what to say to a cancer patient along with a quote that you might find helpful next time you're feeling the need to speak your mind:

"Diplomacy is more than saying or doing the right things at the right time, it is avoiding saying or doing the wrong things at any time"