Day 21: Round 2 - I'm Not Perfect

I prepared for my second dose of chemo drugs alone. Non-cancer people can only come as a guest the first visit, and after that, have to wait in the lobby. Me? I have an all-access pass to the fun, though, unfortunately the other members aren't really up to doing much. I usually end up reading a magazine.


This week there were a few new people and the red-scarved woman, but I couldn't help but be surprised to see a younger person on the other side of the room, and feel disturbed that he was in there and also suffering from Down Syndrome. Why I found this especially sad, I don't know. I don't know anyone's circumstances in the chemo-room, so I can't really be giving any awards for the most heartbreaking story.

First of all, I had to overcome my surprise, "How did he get cancer?" Stupid, right..., as if he already had his limit of debilitating conditions? Excuse, me... God... he can't have cancer, he already has Down Syndrome.

His mother sat in there with him and I wondered how she felt about her son, who already had a shortened lifespan, sitting in the chair in front of her with poison villing his vein. I wondered how he got it, what he had, and if she'd dealt with this before. Her posture revealed nothing: not helplessness, not fear, not hope or resolve. She didn't speak, at least, not loud enough for me to hear from a body length away.

But her son did. He had the same confidence of other people I'd encountered with his condition. He spoke with opinion and without embarrassment, and clearly, was in control.

There were indeed issues with his care like, from what I could overhear, convincing him to drink something other than sports-drinks. You have to drink water and tons of it to keep crystals from forming in your liver and to prevent further damage to cells. That means, you have to give up a lot of fun and/or sugary beverages when you have cancer, otherwise your kidneys, liver and bladder will drag your body out of bed in middle of the night and tie you to the back of a garbage truck. He wasn't going for it, but that was probably true for half of us in there.

The chemo room got quiet, then slowly emptied out, and I decided to ignore my young chemo neighbor like I ignored everyone else and refocused on the hallway and my own drip bag. It was the least I could do. Afterall, he and his mother weren't sitting there wondering about me. At least, they never said so. And as for having more than your share of challenges, I guess, I mean I know, you can never compare yourself to someone else. For all I know, he could have the advantage.

The actor Chris Burke from "Life Goes On" did so much to change public opinion about persons with Down Syndrome. If you've never known anyone with the condition, or seen the show, check it out. http://studentclubs.winona.edu/winonan/11-1-00/burke11100.htm