I'm feeling calmer today. I've given myself a good telling off about feeling sorry for myself. Decided some girlie shopping to cheer myself up would be a good distraction and I knew immediately who the perfect companion would be. We met as patients at the hospital during our cancer treatment. We were both having a difficult day at the time which ended up with us sharing one of those rants about hating cancer, life not being fair, nothing will ever be the same again etc etc. This instantly bonded us and we stayed in touch and helped each other over many emotional meltdowns as we slowly recovered.
When we were both well enough to get out and about again we met up for a shopping trip. I remember she asked if I was looking for anything in particular and I replied something pink, frivolous and cheap. That day it was a scarf. Today we are wandering round the market and I have my eye on some bracelets. Didn't end up buying anything but we had a good laugh over a pink diamante dog lead. We both loved it but neither of us have a dog. We have a mutual friend who has a rather fierce male Alsatian and we joked about whether we should buy it for him.
There aren't many positives during a cancer journey but one good thing for me has been the companionship of the patients I've met. Several have become friends, and although we usually contact each other for cheerful social occasions these days, it's lovely to know they are there for the darker days too. Sadness, anger and worry can unexpectedly still hit ex cancer patients many years afterwards, and I don't think that can be fully appreciated unless you've been on the journey yourself.
