Cancerland

1. Welcome to Cancerland, a thrilling adventure park that no one really wants to go to. The rides are thrilling. The first one is DIAGNOSIS!! A rip roaring 3-D rocket ship that consists of 2 visits to the hospital and BAM! Your Mom has cancer and is going to die. The next one is MOVING DAY!! The one you swore would never happen!! Your mother and ALL her stuff move to your home. The next one is my favorite!! SECOND OPINION!! They first painful bone marrow biopsy wasn't done very well, so you have to sit with your scared Mother while she waits to have another one done. And then they tell her that she can't be put under because she ate that day. That ride lets out, two weeks later, at BIOPSY RESULTS!! This one is great! They tell you that it is worse than they thought, but....there is HOPE!! With tons of drugs and a transplant, she could be cancer free!! Next and surprisingly smoothest ride was CHEMO STARTS! Kind of nice, oddly enough. No major side effects, little nausea and fatigue, but otherwise, okay. Maybe a calm before the storm kind of thing?
2. We are hiring!! A qualified applicant must have the following: shoulders of steel (all burdens will be placed here), shoulders must also be padded (will be cried upon often), lots of patience (it will be tried anytime, anywhere), a strong stomach (will have to watch as Mom is poked and prodded repeatedly), a quick mind (will be thrown reams of information and great responsibility at the same time), be greatly organized (will be running her life as well as your own) and a great sense of humor (otherwise you will go stark raving mad, like bonkers, like padded room insane).
3. The hours are long and the pay sucks, but guess what? You still get to go home after being in the doctors office for hours and do the dishes and make dinner. Don't forget that laundry still has to be done, Christmas is coming, too. And you don't suddenly get extra energy or extra hands to help. You do get to decorate the Christmas tree with Mom and you get to see how truly wonderful your husband is. If your lucky, like me, you get to see just how much love there is in one family. You get to see your Mother giggle like a little girl over the crazy things your dogs do. And if you are very, very lucky, you get to see life through new eyes and see things that you never really did before.