Today at the pedia

At the pedia while waiting for our turn on a very busy Saturday afternoon, another Mom with a tiny baby girl found the vacant chair beside me and sat down. She smiled, looked at my head scarf and smiled again then asked, "Are you undergoing chemo (po)?". 

I looked at her and noticed a head of newly-grown and still growing hair and I knew why she asked the question. She's a lot younger at 35, had just given birth to her first child. 

Her diagnosis is exactly like mine : stage 2a invasive ductal carcinoma, lymph nodes healthy (negative of cancer), Her2 negative (cancer was non-aggressive). But what I couldn't understand at first was how she had just finished chemo (the thin head of hair was a giveaway) and given birth 2 months ago. I was hesitant to ask, afraid that she might think I was being intrusive when we didn't know each other from Adam. 

Then it dawned on me ... she had chemo while pregnant with her child! My face must've changed expressions because right after that she said, "Yes, I found out I had breast cancer then was told I was pregnant right before starting chemo."

I was probably speechless for the next few seconds, then I finally said, "Wow, you're something else! Being pregnant alone is a challenge, even a struggle for many women! But you had 6 cycles of chemo while carrying your baby!" 

She laughed and said, "Oo nga eh. Sa dalas ko mag-vomit noon, hindi ko na alam kung sumusuka ako dahil sa chemo or dahil buntis ako. Hahaha. Pero ikaw ha, nagche-chemo pero bongga naka make up pa rin!" To which I replied my usual, "Oo naman, bawal pumangit!" 

I also tried to imagine, (on my way home in the car), how terrible it must have been for her and her husband to have been told they had a baby on the way, but that chemo couldn't be postponed because waiting will only give the cancer cells a chance to multiply and spread. What an awfully tough decision they had to make. And then I realized again, how lucky I am to only have myself to worry about, that I never felt I was taking a risk when my doctors asked me to make choices.

Just like that ... my spirit is replenished for chemo cycle 4 soon. The Lord, despite the challenges, always makes His presence felt through situations and people ... yup, even strangers. 

THANKFUL and HUMBLED.