I'm a lucky lady and I know it. I have incredible people in my life who have advocated for me and pushed me to get better care. Others who have quietly supported me throughout the past eight years. I have people I have never met praying for me. I have a support system.
There was a moment early on in my ordeal when stress levels were incredibly high. My sister lost it at work, completely fell apart. Her supervisor gave her space, time, comfort. Had her supervisor not allowed her this moment, my sister's stress would have become untenable. She wouldn't have been able to support me as she did.
I fear that not everyone has these layers of support. My support has support.
I cannot innumerate how many layers of support I have, cannot count my fortune. I live just above the poverty line so I'm not talking about $$$ here, I'm talking about all the unsung heroes in my story. The nurses who supported my family, their families who supported them.
Capitalism, as it is performed in the U.S. in the 2000s, is not designed for caregivers. There are few supports built in to our system. One must earn an income and health insurance. One must have time and expendable income to make it to appointments. One must have time to schedule appointments.
My community is my bedrock. Every neighbor who brought a meal or let the dogs out made things easier.
And you don't need to know someone with a brain tumor to help make things easier. Advocate for better safety nets if you can. It is OK if you cannot! Pick up your dog poop so that someone who is having a terrible day doesn't have a worse day. Offer to tutor your neighbor's kid who is struggling in math.
Just be nice, patient, giving.
OK. Back to it. I'm the luckiest and most grateful human. 1) My people, my people. 2) My tumor. As I mentioned in ALL ABOUT MY TUMOR I hit the jackpot in the tumor department.
The tumor type, location, and the timing of my diagnosis couldn't have been better. (That is a bit of an overstatement but I'm prone to hyperbole). Anyway, check my science!
