I had a conversation the other day with my husband recalling how growing up I always looked to my father for all the answers. He was my hero. He was the problem solver & always made everything okay again.
When my son was diagnosed with Cancer last April and I broke the news to my father… initially, he took it pretty well, as I expected him to. He wanted to come with me when I drove out of state to see my son & speak with the Doctor. When we found out how dire his situation was my fathers demeanor changed. Once we got back to the hotel and we were alone my father sobbed like I had never seen a man sob before. He was inconsolable, there was nothing I could say to him. He told me to just let him be, so I did.
My mind went into overdrive. I didn’t know what to do first but I hit the ground running. I called my husband & we made a laundry list of things to be done. We had to add him back on our insurance, get him back home to NY and get an appointment at Sloan Kettering ASAP! I didn’t have time to think about anything else. I was constantly on the phone either with my husband, Insurance Company, Sloan Kettering, Doctors or American Cancer Society (for support).
Long Story short, we got my son back to NY three weeks later with an appointment at Sloan Kettering. It’s been a year of bi-weekly doctor appointments, bi-monthly hospital stays & regular visiting nurse service at the house.
One day a few weeks ago, my father was over for dinner and we were talking about this crazy year long Cancer ride. My father looked at me & said “You’re my hero…I couldn’t have done everything you did” He continued, “I wouldn’t know where to start” He doesn’t even realize he was my role model.
It was at that moment I realized our roles had been reversed. I had always looked to him to solve all the problems & now he looks to me to take care of this one.
AlliedsWings 