Chemo Day 3 - a rhythm to life that's not coincidental

We're adjusting to the rhythm of this new situation.

We wake up, Jeff gets ready, I work out, then get ready. We arrive at the Cancer Center, Jeff already has the IV in so we go right to the Infusion Center and he gets his meds and we make new friends.

Jeff was a great deal more tired today and slept most of the time. While he slept I noticed the man in the recliner across the way kept looking at us and smiling. I walked over and introduced myself and met Edward. Edward is a truck driver who has lymphoma in his bone marrow and is two treatments away from the last of his maintenance treatments. He looks healthy. He sounds strong. He gives all the glory to God for his recovery.

He didn't know he had cancer, he didn't even know what lymphoma was 4 years ago. He was emptying a freezer load and his bones hurt. The doctors gave him steroids. Then he fell - by the Grace of God he attributes - and hit his back very hard. He ended up with an E.R. visit and a string of doctors that led him to the Atlanta Cancer Center. He says if it wasn't for falling, and the subsequent chain of events he never would have known or been here to talk to me today.

He and I had a wonderful chat, while your favorite Sports Editor slept. He told me of hope, he told me of God's promise, he told me of trust, he told me that our doctor was smart, loyal and determined, he told me of his wife and the death of their youngest college age daughter in a car accident in 2005. He told me some things are just too big for him to handle alone and he just gives it to God and tells Him - "this is too much for me, You take this, You're so much bigger than I am." And after that he looks at the fact that he is alive and that God has something for him to do. He looked over at Jeff and told me Jeff was going to be all right.

He told me all these things with a smile in his eyes and a conviction in his words. When Jeff woke up at almost the end of his treatment time, he said " I see you made a new friend today." I said with a smile of my own "Yes, I did."

We needed Edward a great deal today. I thank God for the "coincidence" of him being there with us. As far as I'm concerned Edward was working as an angel - a messenger.

Think about someone you came across whom you attributed to coincidence today - I don't think they were. I"m just sayn'.

P.S. Mrs. G, I took your suggestion and prayed over the meds right after they were hung. Thanks.