My friend Bunkey has cancer. This isn't the first time, this time it won't go away. Most days she is okay with that and life goes on pretty much the way it always has. Some days, not so much.
This current bout was diagnosed during the winter of 2011. Actually, it was found then, it wasn't diagnosed until late in the spring of that year. Bunkey rallied, adjusted and fought like a trooper. Chemo every month, two weeks on, two weeks off. Then three weeks on and two weeks off. She persevered. She worked until she was told "no more" by her doctor. Being a school nurse and around sick children was not a good idea for someone whose immune system was so compromised by the chemo.
Bunkey rallied, adjusted and fought like a trooper. Some tumors got small. Some tumors disappeared. One tumor, didn't. In fact, that tumor grew. "No, it didn't grow," the doctor said in November. "Oh, it grew, but that's what they do when they are dying," was what she was told in March. In July she heard, "that tumor's a problem."
So Bunkey is rallying, although having her liver filled with chemo is not easy. "You will feel like you have the flu," the doctor said. Day 5 after enduring surgery on Thursday and Friday, she is struggling to rally. I have every faith that she will. She is a fighter. Everyday we take baby steps. I remind her of what the doctor said. She tries to eat. She tries to feel good. She desperately tries to rally.
Last night was not good. Today was better. We actually made it outside and Bunkey was able to read a bit. Looking at her you would never know how hard every day since Sunday has been. She is the bravest person I know. She showers, gets dressed for her day and then pushes to do the most her body will allow.
She asked me to take this picture so that she could send it to her kids so that they could she that she was doing better. To look at it you would never know how she struggles.
Please keep my dear friend in your thoughts and prayers. She will rally, she will get beyond this. I would just like it to happen a little sooner than later.
