I’m shivering, sitting in an exam room, wearing a paper dress, waiting…and waiting…and DON’T YOU KNOW I HAVE CANCER…Why the F@%& am I WAITING? It’s like being thrown in the SHU (#OITNB). Time changes after you are diagnosed with an illness. It can become a doomsday ruminating quicksand where nothing escapes. This was the birthplace of my #DoctorsOfficeDanceParty.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl’s words caught me by the heart as I was about to storm into the hallway and demand to be seen. I had a choice, I didn’t HAVE to feel enraged, ignored, unseen. All of a sudden I could hear the Muzak being pumped into the room and I decided to dance (and film it). It became the string that pulled me through every appointment, my private game. I looked forward to waiting!
When chemotherapy started, it became my own form of medicine, my friends joined in. I started to look forward to chemo.
There were times I didn’t want to do it. It felt like I was faking positivity for a “cancer fan club” I had created, but I did it anyways.
Four months post chemo, with a clean bill of health, I am glad I made that choice. I now present to you the complete 9 months of #DoctorsOfficeDanceParty. Thank you to all of my chemo buddies who danced along!
After my first dance party, I did go into the hallway and asking to be seen...but I was calm and filled with joy. I think they just forgot I was in there.
- When in your life have you made the choice to feel differently about a “bad” situation, and what did you do? Let's have a conversation in the comments below.
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