Skip to main content

Compassion and Courage

Don't get me wrong, I love it here at Bailey Boushay House. By and large, I love my caregivers and I really appreciate the difficult job they do. I cannot imagine working in a hospice situation. What compassion they have! What courage!

Before I was diagnosed with ALS, I was afraid to spend time with somebody that had a potentially life-threatening illness. I had compassion but I lacked courage. Courage to accept the unacceptable...Death. The thought of losing somebody that I've come to know or worse, come to love... Well, it just rears up my separation anxiety to vibrate.

Actually, I just mis-spoke...I did have a friend who ended up with breast cancer, and I did not run. I did support her by staying friends, offering encouragement, being there for chemotherapy, being present for her mastectomy, offering to take on her beloved dog should she not make it. I knitted chemo caps for though she opted for ball caps. I knitted "Boobie socks" in breast cancer pink, that I entered into the fair and won a ribbon for. And I prayed for her to healed. But, she was the only one and I banked on her survival.

Okay, I'm not a complete fraidy cat. Thankfully.

Taking a hard, honest look at myself, makes me all the more appreciative of what I have available to me today. It also helps to console me when I feel so alienated from my friends and family.
Labels:
Location: 2720 East Madison Street, Seattle, WA 98112, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kate

I think about my friend, Kate Struby, who died from this horrible disease in 2013. She lived here at Bailey Boushay House before I did. I reached out to Kate online through FaceBook because I loved her photograph with her head thrown back in laughter. I also loved her posts. I guess I just loved her spirit. I got to finally meet her one month before she died. I happened to be at the University of Washington Medical Center for my quarterly appointment when I saw her FaceBook post. She was awake and in the medical ICU. She was a mere few floors down. I would not be stopped. Relativeor no, I would meet my FaceBook friend. Thank God I did. I rolled into the room to find a beautiful, ethere.al woman flanked by two friends. Although it was an impromtu visit, she said she knew me immediately.I was in awe of her with her fiery spirit despite the ravages of our shared disease. She, unable to lift even a finger, lifted my spirit.
2 comments
Read more

Immersion Therapy

Please excuse my selfish absence from posting to my blog. I wish I could say that I've been out diligently finding a cure for ALS, or tirelessly working to fund research, or hunger-striking to bring public attention to beacon the cruelty of not having access to care facilities geared specifically to the specialized needs of the ALS patient. Alas, I have been binge-watching Scandel, The 100, and binge-listening to audiobooks. I'm currently enamored of mystery and thrillers by Chelsea Cain and Lisa Unger. I cannot do a Helluva lot these days but I can still waste time. ALS ought to have some perks. I can immerse myself in completely in entirely new situations, raise my excitement level and learn something new to me.
Post a Comment
Read more

Tuesday

Tuesday is shaping up to be my best day of the week. Every day holds the requisite eating, changing, television, and napping. But Tuesday, I got a glorious, hot bath in a handicap-accessible bathtub with my Angela and Lisa, reorganized my shower caddy with my Lisa, read "The White Album" by Joan Didion with my Lindsey, "supervised" doughnut-making and sampled same with my Sandra among others, and listened to Ryan Feng play classical piano. A new book fell into my lap today. Of course, I mean that figuratively. "Play It As It Lays" by Joan Didion was just laying on top of the informal Bailey Boushay House library cart, so I borrowed it. .Guess what we'll be reading? I feel very blessed!
2 comments
Read more