I started Hospice volunteer training yesterday.
So, about that sorry Sylvia. We did an exercise wherein we put our chairs in a circle and were handed 3 each yellow, green, blue and purple cards. On each of the green cards, we were told to write down a person we care about, and so on with three favorite things you do, three things you want to do in the future, and material possessions you care about. Then we were read a story in which the subject was each of us. This will kind of drag out, but context is important.
The subject in the story (each of us) is getting ready for work, and in the shower I detect a lump in my armpit. Doesn't hurt, I think nothing of it. It hasn't changed for weeks. After a month, I find another lump on my back, and an irregular mole on my arm. I make an appointment to see my doctor, who refers me to a surgeon for a biopsy. Now I'm scared. We're told to crumble up one card and toss it into the circle. You can see where this is going.
An anguishing week later, the diagnoses is melanoma, and I am prescribed chemo and radiation. Crumble and toss two cards.
The chemo makes me sick, weak and tired. Toss in two cards.
The chemo seems to have worked! I have been diagnosed as in remission, I feel great, and I make plans to go back to work.
A few weeks later, my thigh hurts and I am having a hard time catching my breath. Toss in two more cards.
The cancer has spread. I am prescribed a different chemo which makes me sicker and more tired. Toss in two cards.
The new chemo did not help at all. I am offered an experimental drug. I'm too tired, weak and in terrible pain, so I refuse. Toss in three cards. The center of the room is looking like the result of an origami class gone rogue.
I/we are instructed to pass our cards to the person on our right. That person is instructed to pick four cards at random, toss them, and give the cards back.
I looked at my cards, and I yelled "Sylvia, you tossed Jenny!" Sylvia asked me to tell Jenny she's sorry. It sort of broke the tension.
I'm dying now, and my last card is tossed a minute before I die.
