common ground

Finding people who can identify with your journey can be both maddening and wonderful...talking with someone who is also watching their child endure things they never should is both comforting and frustrating.

That is where I found myself this morning as Camryn and I were at clinic...there is a little boy who is currently also a regular coming everyday for the next 6 weeks, he had a stem-cell transplant and after a year of remission he too relapsed and is now on a journey very different from ours and yet very similar. As Camryn was getting hooked up and the little boy D was getting hooked up they were chatting about videos and such...meanwhile D's mom and I chatted. We had met before (about a month ago), but we both briefly caught each other up on our stories...

As we talked I found myself so incredibly drawn to this complete stranger J, she really listened, asked real questions, understood...and she showed an amazing amount of empathy.

Camryn's procedure lasts about 3 hours whereas D was done in about 30 minutes and then he heads to radiation...but for those 30 minutes I felt a common bond with J and I have to say it felt really good.

It felt good to not have to be strong...to not guard my words...to not abbreviate things (not wanting to bore people with the medical jargon)...and to listen.

As J talked I was immediately drawn to their journey...she spoke of the year post-transplant as the "best year of their life". That now things were very tenuous and unsure...that being thrown back in this is not something she ever thought would happen again. Are you beginning to see why I felt like I was listening to myself?

At the end of the six weeks D heads to New York for a month long treatment and as his mom said..."hopefully that will do it...it has to." Yes, they are fighting a fight where the options become less and less with every relapse. That things are not so easy the second time around.

I've been praying a lot for D and his mom J today...I have no idea much more of their life then their cancer journey, but for what it's worth it really doesn't matter. We have a common bond...we share a journey few understand...

As J said to me today, "Doesn't it get old coming here every day? Don't you feel like this is all you do?" And the answer is yes; but there isn't anywhere I would rather be if this is what it takes to get Camryn well. It's a hard road...

But, I'm thankful today for a moment to have some common ground and be able to really sense we are not alone...

This isn't just happening to us...

To Camryn...

And that's what becomes maddening and frustrating, there are just far too many children and families dealing with realities that are incomprehensible to some and yet all to familiar. I wish for D and his mom that this wasn't their journey...as I know they too wish that for us.

And for the common ground I thank the Lord, because with every friend we meet He brings encouragement, strength and hope.