teach me about tomorrow

This past week was my very last week of clinical, and I had perhaps one of my most memorable experiences. It wasn't necessarily bad or good, but it really makes you wonder why the worst things seem to happen to the best families.

I had this adorable little girl, whom I had seen being pulled around the floor in a wagon by her parents the day before- she seemed just as happy as could be. Before going into assess this little girl my nurse stopped me and told me the background information and she herself made a comment about how life seems to hit the nicest families the hardest sometimes, and how it can really make you wonder. Once I met this family, I knew exactly what she was talking about. This little girl had just been diagnosed with a neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that tents to be bad if it's diagnosed in kinds older than 1 year old (she was about 3). Of course, that sort of information isn't something you want to go right in and tell the parents, I mean you can't really tell anybody that. However, I think the parents knew it was going to be a long, hard road ahead of them, but their strength blew me away.

I had to take a step back to grab a hold of my feelings and not let how worried I was about her, with just being diagnosed and not having a very good chance of having a good outcome influence or change my care and responses to the family. The family was so positive, I don’t believe I heard a negative word come out of mom or dad’s mouth the entire day, it truly amazed me. Mom made a comment after brushing her daughter’s hair that "she was savoring it while she can, because very soon she is going to loose all of her hair." She even said that they usually give her son a buzz cut over the summertime, so maybe this summer all 3 children (the patient had twin sister as well) would have buzz cuts for the summer and they would just call it their “summer hair.” When she said this it almost brought me to tears, and I had to step away for a moment to compose myself again. It was something so simple, and she said it so matter-of-factly that it genuinely took me by surprise. The knew what the reality was going to be and they just accepted it so gracefully, taking everything in stride.

This patient really showed me just how much you are able to stay positive throughout a bad situation, and how that really makes a difference in the patient- she was happy go lucky all day long. It really made me take a step back and see how easy it can be to find God even in the hardest of situations, and have faith that He has a plan- even if we aren’t able to see what that plan may be or where it may lead.