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#TherapeuticThursday I have to admit, I was unprepared for questions from my 5 year old and this card.But, grief is ongoing and sometimes unpredictable. About 11 months ago a dear friend, who was truly like a brother, died. He was 41 years old. He had been living with a rare kidney disease for 15+ years and had successfully had 2 kidney transplants. In Nov of ‘17 I received a worrisome phone call from my friend, Manny. He was in the hospital and was very ill, but the doctors didn’t know what was wrong. He was sick and couldn’t eat anything without getting physically more sick. So he was kept to a liquid diet for 3 weeks😨 ...not good. Finally, he was given a diagnoses of a rare type of lymphoma that was a result of his anti-rejection meds. But, the doctors said that it was treatable and that he needed to start chemo right away. He agreed. He was set to get married in 1 month. He had completed his 2nd round of chemo and was determined to take his vows. We were hopeful since test results had shown improvements. However, after the 2nd round, new info shared was that the chemo was no longer working. The docs started a different chemo treatment. I have to admit, I was really getting nervous with this info. I was in touch regularly with Manny, never really sharing my concerns but doing my best to keep him hopeful and fighting. But his body was losing the fight and I could see it in his eyes. Every phone call and every text message, my heart would skip a beat...fearful, worried. I mustered all of my hope and laid it out to encourage him, but also to offer support of whatever his choices were in regard to treatment and preserving the best quality of life. My friend. My brother. 😰 it was getting HARD. And it’s even hard to write this story. But, it’s part of my grieving. Story telling and sharing is an important part of our grief. When I got the phone call that the lymphoma spread to his brain, I took the next flight out to be with him during his chemo treatment. We sat, we cried, we shared stories, we made plans.... 2 weeks later, he was gone. I wasn’t prepared. Are we ever? Still #healing.

#TherapeuticThursday I have to admit, I was unprepared for questions from my 5 year old and this card.But, grief is ongoing and sometimes unpredictable. About 11 months ago a dear friend, who was truly like a brother, died. He was 41 years old. He had been living with a rare kidney disease for 15+ years and had successfully had 2 kidney transplants. In Nov of ‘17 I received a worrisome phone call from my friend, Manny. He was in the hospital and was very ill, but the doctors didn’t know what was wrong. He was sick and couldn’t eat anything without getting physically more sick. So he was kept to a liquid diet for 3 weeks😨 ...not good. Finally, he was given a diagnoses of a rare type of lymphoma that was a result of his anti-rejection meds. But, the doctors said that it was treatable and that he needed to start chemo right away. He agreed. He was set to get married in 1 month. He had completed his 2nd round of chemo and was determined to take his vows. We were hopeful since test results had shown improvements. However, after the 2nd round, new info shared was that the chemo was no longer working. The docs started a different chemo treatment. I have to admit, I was really getting nervous with this info. I was in touch regularly with Manny, never really sharing my concerns but doing my best to keep him hopeful and fighting. But his body was losing the fight and I could see it in his eyes. Every phone call and every text message, my heart would skip a beat...fearful, worried. I mustered all of my hope and laid it out to encourage him, but also to offer support of whatever his choices were in regard to treatment and preserving the best quality of life. My friend. My brother. 😰 it was getting HARD. And it’s even hard to write this story. But, it’s part of my grieving. Story telling and sharing is an important part of our grief. When I got the phone call that the lymphoma spread to his brain, I took the next flight out to be with him during his chemo treatment. We sat, we cried, we shared stories, we made plans.... 2 weeks later, he was gone. I wasn’t prepared. Are we ever? Still #healing.

#TherapeuticThursday #healing

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