Wearing Just a Hat...No Wig....

     I decided to be brave and go to the grocery store with just a hat not my wig. I asked Mark if it looked just like I was wearing a hat or like I had cancer? He said both. Hmm... Well I went anyway. I walked into the store and not more than 20' into the store I noticed a lady looking at me as if I was a freak. Really people think how I feel... Gratefully I ran into a friend and I asked her the same question I asked Mark. I didn't really give her a chance to answer because I knew her answer would be the same as Marks. As I did my shopping people would look at me but most didn't give me odd stares like the first lady. The next day I happened to be going to the doctors for a CT scan. Afterwards I was starving because I had to fast for like 24 hrs and then drink this stuff. Anyway I stopped by the cafe to grab a snack ( I hadn't worn my wig to the appointment just a hat) and the helper behind the counter noticed me and asked if I didn't mind telling him what type of treatment I was going through. Well it was really easy to open up to him because you could tell he knew I was going through something but it didn't matter to him he didn't look at me weird or make me feel uncomfortable. He asked some more questions about what kind of cancer etc. It wasn't a long encounter with him but it made me feel like I was a person not a freak. I went home and told Mark about it and I realized that the lady at the store made me feel uncomfortable. I told him about the experience at the cafe and the big difference it made for me. That guy saw me as a person going through something, he wasn't afraid to ask me questions, he made me feel like I was a person! I really thought about these two experiences a lot. It made an impression on me on how we treat others. We certainly don't know what people are going through but it doesn't mean we should treat them any different.

     I had the opportunity to go with Mark to the ortho doctor and in the waiting room was a woman wearing a pink breast cancer scarf talking on the phone. I went over to her and she told the person she would call her back. I had mentioned the experience I had just related above to her and I told her I just had to come to talk with her as a normal person. We talked about her experience with how people react to her and it was basically the same. We continued talking for a minute about her cancer, her daughter having knee surgery etc. I wished her good luck and was on my way. It was just a short conversation but I know it made me feel good and I can imagine that it made her feel just as good. Don't think because we have cancer we all of the sudden become different, we are the same people as before. We think, feel, cry and care just the same as you. Remember to break out of your comfort zone and make someones day like the guy at the cafe did for me. You never know how much your interaction could help that individual.