To the online communities I have joined since my diagnosis, thank you for all of the sharing, support, advice, encouragement, kind words, and inspiration. Having such an amazing group of people online 24/7 is a comfort.
To those who have prayed for me and my family, thank you. I know many of you have not met me and yet you pray for me. I will be forever grateful for your prayers. There is immeasurable power in prayer.
To those who have e-mailed me or made a comment or two on my blog, thank you. I enjoy the feedback and I am glad that you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts, opinions, poems, or your own life experience. I was touched by those who sent e-mails even though we had lost touch, just to say they were thinking of me and to give me encouraging words. It meant a lot.
To those who pass by my blog to read it, thank you. I hope that in the craziness of my writings you can appreciate what I type and the journey that I am detailing here and, maybe, it can help someone out somehow.
To those who have sent us a card or note, thank you. I treasure your encouraging words and thoughts. I plan on keeping these as a reminder of the kindness and generosity you showed to us and to remind me of the journey I have been on.
To those who gave us food, fruit bouquets, and other eats, thank you. It was really great just to warm up some dishes for a nice home cooked meal. It was all delicious and very much appreciated...I think things tend to taste extra good when we didn't have anything to do with the preparation!
To those who sent gift cards or gift certificates, thank you. Those provided Neil and I with a much needed dinner out during treatment days or they provided Neil with a yummy meal while I was in treatment so he did not have to eat hospital food.
To those who made anonymous donations through out this journey, thank you. Your kindness and giving spirit touched me very much.
To those who gave teddy bears, candles, figurines, pins, or plaques with inspirational words or poems, thank you. I have these items displayed through out my home. Some remind me of Jason and some remind me of the kindness and compassion shown to my family and I through out this journey.
To those who sent flowers, plants, or gift baskets, thank you. I love flowers and plants...and the colour and smell of them during the rough days was a much needed boost. The gift baskets were full of many items of personal pampering that I enjoyed using and they helped me feel pretty when I was having an ugly day.
To those who thought about myself and my family through out the months, thank you.
To those who provided a listening ear to me through out this experience, thank you. Sometimes a listening ear is all that is needed to help make me feel better. I am someone who needs to verbalize things to help me figure them out...I even talk to myself, too!
To those who provided a good laugh or shoulder to cry on when it was greatly needed, thank you.
To all my radiation drivers, thank you. It was a tiring task but I appreciate you waking up early to drive me and for giving of your time and for the wear & tear on your cars for me.
To those who visited myself and Neil on those long chemo days or after my surgery, thank you. I am especially grateful that Neil had some company while I was snoozing from all the pre-chemo drugs. I want to add a 'thank you' here to those who wanted to visit me in the hospital after my surgery but respected my wishes not to have visitors beyond my immediate family.
To the staff, students, and community at St. Christopher, thank you. Your compassion and support has been a great witness to the character of the school. I am very grateful for the prayers, hugs, kind words, cards, gifts, and fundraising events. I feel blessed to have been a part of the school's community.
To the staff at Bluewater Health, thank you. The donations, food, and gift certificates were a very thoughtful and kind gesture during the journey. I know Neil and I were touched to have received those tokens of caring.
To my gyn/onc, thank you. You are a great doc and I am happy that I was referred to you. You care about the whole patient and that is something that makes the patient feel good to know.
To my new circle of teacher friends, thank you for the dinners, the "happy day" presents, the visits, the laughs, the tears, and attending Jason's visitations and funeral. I cannot tell you how much it all means to me...I have known each of you for a relatively short period of time and you have all been amazing through this experience.
To all my friends, new and old, thank you. The support and encouragement has been fantastic. I have a great number of friends who have all reached out to myself or family through out this journey and you have helped make each day seem more bearable. And for those who were able to make it to Jason's funeral and/or visitation...in those moments of sadness it was comforting to see your familiar faces. To know you took the time off work or from your schedule to say one last good bye to Jason made me smile because I know he was loved by so many people.
To all my friends bonded together through our battle with this disease called cancer. Thank you for sharing your experiences, listening to mine, laughing with me, crying with me, sharing your coping strategies, and the inspiration you provide. The "cancer club" is a club I did not want to join but, I gotta say, since joining I have met people who are nothing short of spectacular.
To all our family, thank you for your help through out this whole journey. Whether you baked for us, sent us a card or e-mail, provided a listening ear, visited, or sent us gift cards or a token of your care, we appreciated all the help. There is nothing more comforting than familiar faces and a warm hug from those whom we love.
To Neil, thank you. Although things have broken down at the moment, I did not want to leave you out. You were there through out the 3 years when we kept going to various doctors with my problems, when I napped incessantly because I was so tired, when I was frustrated and angry at my body for all the issues and daily interferences I was getting from it, when we were first told I had cancer, when we had to tell our loved ones I had cancer, each and every day I was in the hospital in London after my surgery, when we got the call in the early morning hours that Jason was dead, when we got the pathology results a day and half after Jason died, when I went for chemo...thank you. I thank you also for going with my Dad to identify Jason's body, talking to my friends when I was too heartbroken to, for being at my side through out the visitations and funeral for Jason, for speaking on my behalf at Jason's funeral when I was unable to stop crying, for doing tasks in areas that were less than ideal, for getting me water to drink late at night, and for sweating through the times I turned the heat up in the house because I was freezing.
(DISCLAIMER: I included the above thank you note at the time in hopes that the certain someone would want to love me and be with me. I did not put the mean and horrible things said and done to me by the above person and certain members of said person's family because I was willing to overlook it at that time [lacked any self-esteem when I originally wrote this] because I just wanted said person to accept me and love me. Also, it should be noted that what I wrote is tailored and garnished to make said person appear more grandiose than they really were through out this journey. I was desperate.)
To my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Kim. Thank you. Even though we are separated by miles and miles we have been able to see each other more in the past year than we had in 5 years prior to that. And our 5 hour phone conversation is the longest phone call I have ever had! I love you like a sister. I cannot imagine my life without a friendship like ours. Thank you for being there any time, day or night. And thanks to Jason, your husband, for being so understanding.
To my parents, thank you. The road has been long and difficult these past several months. I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose your son in a car accident and, at the same time, have your daughter diagnosed with a stage 4 cancer. You are still there, though, and I thank you both. There have been ups and downs and there are probably more on the way but I know you both love me and I love you. And, I cannot forget, you have taken Princess in when I could not care for her and loved her like I do...I know she is a dog but she is my special little doggie, thank you.
You may find yourself getting more than one thank you here and I hope I did not leave anyone out...if you feel you have been, know that I am thankful for your help over these past several months. It would be impossible to name everyone who has provided some light and warmth through out my journey...I think the list would be never-ending. The journey has had its moments and I thank you all for helping myself and my family out along the way. I am not good with words when it comes to this but I wanted you all to know how thankful I am for your caring gestures. I have seen the goodness of humanity shine in the past several months.
Hugs,
Liz
