Day Fourteen: Blessings

Well, here it is midnight already and I haven't finished this post. I'm feeling pretty crappy today, I think I caught Camryn's stomach flu bug from this weekend and I fell asleep in the glider with her a few hours ago. I guess I needed the rest. Thank god Cesa has a meaty post tonight, because I'm turning it over to her and hitting the sack! G'night!

First morning at Oasis was pretty uneventful. We woke up to a beautiful sunny day with no wind. We watched the news and the Today show while we waited for the lab tech to come take Krissy's blood. Since the labs were done late, we missed morning service, but were still able to make breakfast on time. The menu for this morning: eggs, refried beans, oatmeal and lots of fruit! I swear I'm going to come back skinnier and I'm lovin it! During breakfast we met our first two people. Marcia and Dottie. They are here with the "Amigos de Esperanza" since Bruce and Vicky are in Italy. They were so friendly and told us about a lecture going on tonight about trauma as it relates to cancer, couldn't wait to hear tat one!

After breakfast we came back up to our room and waited for Krissy to get her treatment schedule. First thing on the list, Genoxil. While Krissy was hooked up to the IV drip, I decided to grab my ipod and go sit in the courtyard and do some more crocheting. It was so nice, I decided to come back and grab my bag of goodies, ie, gossip mags, journal, book, sunglasses, and head back out to my comfy spot. Soon after I got settled, Krissy came and joined me and we read our magazines and basked in the sunshine. Laura, a lady we spoke wth briefly last night came over and talked to us for a while. She and her husband are here with the "Amigos" and he went through treatment 4 years ago and is living cancer free after a battle with prostate cancer that spread to his lungs. After our visit, we came in for lunch. Albondigas de pollo, beans, and veggies galore. We ate quickly because we really wanted to venture out while it was so warm. First stop, Calimax (local grocery store). We wandered around, skimming several aisles and walked out with advil (for me), Totopos (tortilla chips), water, and chocobanana oreos (for me of course). Next stop, the dollar store.....very interesting in there, but fun to see. Last stop, the beach. We walked down alongside the US border and saw the wall of crosses. Wasn't quite sure of the story, but based on the mural "Ni Una Muerte Mas, Reforma Ya", many people had attempted to cross the border and never quite made it. Dorian later confirmed it. As I stood there, I looked at it thinking, "that wall is the gate to a freedom many will never know, as well as the difference between a life of poverty or that of wealth. We have a lot to be thankful for and those types of things are just little reminders."

At dinner we met Vera, a very cute woman who has tumors on the liver and gall bladder and is here with her friend (I can't remember her name right now) who was here several years ago with ovarian cancer. In 24 months she was here 22 times but is now living cancer free. Now she is delighted to be with her friend sharing the experience. We attended that trauma seminar i mentioned earlier after dinner, and it was very enlightening. The research on trauma, emotional and/or physical, has a tremendous impact on our health at the cellular level. I challenge everyone to do their homework on this, its worth the knowledge. The overall message from this lecture though was when we allow ourselves to find forgiveness within and through our belief and faith in God, we can be delivered from those burdens and be in a constant state of healing.
While today we heard those survivor stories that fill us with joy and hope, there are those I see and quietly say a prayer for because their battle will be much harder and possibly longer. We were told there are 19 patients checked in right now and there are several that don't leave their room. We see their friends and family in passing and they look weary, but never without a smile. The warmth and friendliness of the strangers around us brings a smile to my face but also reminds me that hope is almost tangible here because of the amazing light this place radiates. As Vera put it so plainly this evening, "Thank God for Mexico." Until tomorrow........God Bless!