For the past year, CHAP has been working with the Adolescent & Young Adult (AYA) oncology program at Knight Cancer Institute. The AYA patients are between the ages of 15 - 39.
I find that there are no perfect words or ways to bring comfort to folks when they are experiencing pain and struggle. The best option for me is to provide my patients with an ear for genuine listening. Sometimes just a few words are expressed; sometimes it's simply facial expressions. And sometimes that is all that needs to happen to make a connection.
My co-art teacher had taken several 'room service' bead requests at one of our partner hospitals and I was making some room deliveries. My co-art teacher told me that I would really like the energy of the woman in room XYZ. When I opened the door, this wonderful woman was sitting in a chair next to her bed. Her name is “Tess” and she greeted me with a warm, crooked smile.
Tess shared with me that none of her family lived nearby the hospital and she was not very happy to be there as you can imagine. She had previously found out that she had cancer, but was treated and was in remission. More recently, Tess started feeling terrible and grumpy again. Her fears were made into reality when the doctors told her that her cancer was back, and this time she needed a bone marrow transplant. While Tess was sharing her story with me, she was altering her house slippers. She said everything [in her life] was just uncomfortable right now; her house slippers, her pants were too tight, just everything.
Tess and I spent some time conversing and then I showed her the colorful plate of beads that I had to offer and her eyes lit up. She was happy to have a distraction. I told her that we would be back to check on her and that she could call for us anytime she needed more supplies. She looked up at me and thanked me. As I walked toward the door, she sweetly said, “I am hopeful that this hospital will get the cancer out”. I looked at her and said, “me too”.