Originally Posted by
Mollie'sMom
I can hardly see to type this. This thread saddens me so. I just found out Sunday that my best friend from childhood has just found out out she has stage four lung cancer and it is inoperable. I don't think she has much time. I have started to make a windows quilt for her. In those windows I am putting pics of little girls and those things we have done together all our lives. Playing as small children thru being in each others wedding's and since then. We are 72 years old. She is a dear sweet person and has always been the life of the party. I am going to miss her. I hope I can get this quilt to her very soon.
mollie's mom my father and his wife both had end stage cancers and i was caregiver to both. his wife had lung cancer and because she refused to give up though her prognosis was in 6 months, she lived approximately 15 months past what time she was given and didn't have treatments until the last 6 months of her life. she lived her life in the time she had. my father's cancer came back 3 times, each after some treatment. he too pressed on and l decided to make the most of the time he had. so i spent our time talking, taking walks and i took him on a bahamian cruise so that we could watch the sunsets together. though he was very sick when we went on the cruise, he just getting out of the hospital after a 2 month stay, he enjoyed the cruise and the walks along the florida beach we took. he told me thank you very much for doing this for him. you see i could do nothing about him leaving me but i could make the most of the time we had.
i know it is a difficult time you are going through but whatever you feel your friend is feeling 100 times more. i kept this at the front of my mind every time i thought to stop and feel sorry for the situations my dad, his wife and my emotions were in and it kept me pressing forward for them. my sil was diagnosed 2 months ago with stage iv ovarian cancer with mestastasis to other vital organs. her prognosis is well.... not very good, dire even. but if you talked with her and my db brother right now you would not hear that from them. they have decided to look forward and her doc is encouraging them along with our family. you cannot help but do so because while they know what they are facing (they have 3 young children), they have refused to give up without a fight. so the rest of us fight with them.
i encourage you to press forward with your best friend. there will be plenty of moments that she will feel the weight of what she is going through so you may need to be a wind beneath her wings. enjoy the time you have with her, perhaps watch sunrises or sunsets, enjoy some of her favorite activities, have long talks and long walks, go to chemo sessions with her. while you may not be able to do anything about her possibly leaving, there may be plenty you can do now to celebrate your long friendship together. i know is may be difficult but think about it along with the quilt you are making her. i have been on both sides of this and when i went through my time, my family and friends rallied around me so tightly, i know their love and prayers and deeds paved a smooth road for me to travel. i could not have imagined walking it without them.