When I was a little
girl I had a love/hate relationship with Lewis Carroll’s book, “Alice in
Wonderland."
I loved the story, but nevertheless would
wake up, night after night, with nightmarish dreams. I dreamed I was falling down a rabbit hole,
where I ran as fast as I could with the madly grinning Cheshire Cat and the mean
Queen of Hearts chasing me, screaming “Off with her head.” My
dear Irish Mom would come running to comfort me and I would fall asleep. Strangely
enough the next day I would pull the book off the shelf and read it again.
A month ago I was a healthy 83 year old blogger and writer,
when out of the blue, I became a not so healthy 83 year old blogger and writer,
with cancer. I was diagnosed with ovarian and abdominal cancer. That is when I
fell down Alice’s hole, but there was no grinning cat and no mean queen. That
is because I was not in Wonderland, I was in Cancerland. It was just as scary
though, because I was there alone.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that I wasn’t really
alone. My family, husband, daughter, son and three grandchildren were along for
my journey, living with cancer. There were many sweet moments, in the hospital,
with all of them gathered round my bed. A few tears were shed, but we shared
many laughs and hugs and love.
I feel so blessed to have a strong faith, with a church
affiliation. I have been surrounded by, not only my family, but with a
multitude of great friends. I am also blessed with a lifetime of looking at the
glass and seeing it as half full, not half empty. An outpouring of love has
filled my cancer life.
I decided I wanted to
share the story of my journey with others. Perhaps it will help someone else
along the same path. I invite you to come along for the ride.
Lois Jamieson
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