Healing the Incurable

My friend, Emilee Barnes, wrote a book while we were in college. The title of her book is 'Healing the Incurable' and it is 24 different cancer stories. Some of the stories are from people who have battled cancer, while the other stories are from people who have witnessed someone battle cancer. I talked to her about my grandmother, and here is the story she wrote:

Cute. Jennifer Harris hopes to someday teach first grade because, "they're so cute." She describes her grandmother, Ethel Watson, and the "cutest little old lady, just puttsin around the house in her house slippers." Jennifer remembers the way her grandmother invited people into her home, and immediately showed them the kitchen, because she wanted to be sure they would never be hungry. "She was just so cute." Jennifer also remembers the steady decline of her grandmother's "puttsin around the house," when her grandmother was diagnosed with lung cancer that quickly took her life.

Jennifer had completed two years at community college by November 2008, when her family began noticing her grandmother was sick, but nobody was sure what it was. The answer came that December, when her grandmother told them she had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

As the months progressed, Ethel was more bed ridden and wasn't eating, but was still coherent. By May, she lost coherency, and began having hallucinations. Her cancer spread to her hips and back. The doctors wanted to do rounds of radiation, but it was too late, and could only help subdue the pain.

The last time Jennifer saw her grandmother was on her grandmother's birthday, June third. She remembers her being in constant pain that day.

"Just leaning over to kiss my cheek seemed to exhaust her," said Jennifer. "We knew she was going, we just didn't know when."

Seventeen days later, June 20, Ethel passed away. Just two months later, Jennifer left for college, and began adjusting to a loss, and a new phase in her life.

"It was during that time that I learned how strong I actually was," said Jennfier "That semester I lost two grandparents and moved away from home, to a school where I knew nobody."

To help with her grief, Jennifer went to Spring Arbor Free Methodist's group, Grief Share, and highly recommends it to others dealing with loss.

"Try to find people to talk to, go to Grief Share," said Jennifer. "If you need to go to the bathroom and cry in the middle of class, do it. Holding it in will just make everything worse."

Jennifer and her family gather for holidays and birthdays. The joy and hospitality of her grandmother is no longer "puttsin" around the house, showing new people the kitchen. Jennifer now honors her grandmother by participating in American Cancer Society's: Relay For Life helping to raise funds to help others celebrate more birthdays.


Here is the picture that was right next to my story:

Obviously, I am not a first grade teacher ;) There is so much more, and I can write it all, but I haven't yet. I'm sure I will in the future. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

If you want to read more of Emilee's writings, here is a link to her blog, Holistic Hub. She writes about her experiences with Shaklee (which I previously wrote a blog post).

Do you have any experiences with cancer? I would love to hear your story!

XOXO

Jen