Random Acts of Kindness

"Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, most underrated agent of human change."

~ Bob Kerrey

I woke this morning to a damp and dreary day. A good day to rest, read, and reflect - especially since we are still recouping from our recent trip to MD Anderson Cancer Center.

This trip can take a lot out of us. It's not just that air travel has become more difficult. It's also the emotional stress of not knowing what we might hear from the hematologist, the physical stress of pushing John everywhere in a wheelchair, the physical stress for him of yet another bone marrow biopsy.  And when we're done, managing another day of travel and our morale for at least another week until we receive the biopsy report.

We've made this trip three times within 17 months. Each with a similar routine, yet each yielding radically different reactions. The first visit we met with the hematologist assigned to us, an austere Russian trained research physician, whose honesty bordered on bluntness, a shocking confrontation with reality while we were already shell-shocked. By our second visit, she was warmer, gentler, but the news she delivered still bleak and unpromising. Still no cure on the horizon. No appropriate clinical trials available. And her concern for John's appearance disconcerting. The biopsy took two attempts, and the results still were inconclusive. Overall, every bit as challenging a visit. Maybe even more so.

It was a surprise, therefore, when we both affirmed as we left our accommodations that this trip was a much more positive experience even though we couldn't pinpoint why at first. Yes, our doctor was even warmer, more personable, more patient with our questions, clearer with her answers.  But still no cure, no appropriate clinical trials. The biopsy went smoother. But still no results yet.

And then it hit us in the airport as someone offered to help with our luggage. This what was different. The constant stream of kindness that had enveloped us the entire trip. People who lifted luggage without being asked. People who held doors and offered help with the wheelchair. People who not only gave directions but walked with us to be sure we were headed the right way - and not because they were paid to do so. People who smiled first. People who genuinely seemed pleased to see us and willing to listen. People who reminded me with every gesture that there are wonderful, kind and decent people all around us.

Simple, unrequested, unexpected acts of kindness. I'd like to think I would always be aware of and grateful for them. But I suspect they have meant so much more because I am so much more aware of our fragility, so much more susceptible to cynicism and despair. Powerful, inexpensive but not underrated in this household.

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When You Need Somebody - Part II

It's been a few days since we've returned from  MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  Although we've made this trip many times, this was especially draining - physically, mentally and emotionally.  Not just because we're older or that this cancer John is fighting is currently incurable, but also because we're more sensitive to the pain and grief around us.  And as this center is the foremost of its kind in the country, perhaps in the world, the presence of pain and grief is profound and palpable. Not only do they deal with the most severe and rarest cases of cancer, but the patients they see are younger and younger.  It's not unusual to meet someone who is caring for a young son or daughter with leukemia or to turn a corner and see a toddler with a bald head, wearing a mask and pulling a tiny chemo caddy.  

But the trip was also draining emotionally because I was so much more sensitive to the small, spontaneous acts of kindness from strangers that I hadn't thought of before now as a form of support. Small moments of generosity and consideration when I least expected it -the two women who came up behind me to push John's wheelchair when they saw me pause, concerned it would get away from me down a ramp.  Women I didn't know, didn't ask.  Or the people who came out of nowhere to hold open the elevator for us or just smile when we passed.  The shuttle drivers who remembered our names, the various service people who exhibited remarkable patience and compassion as we, and others, fumbled for change, or couldn't find what we were looking for.  The nurse practitioner who double checked her answers to reassure us that she had provided the right information (even calling us at 10 p.m. with additional information to allay some of my concerns).  

Most of all, however, it was the conversations we had with other patients and their caregivers as we waited for tests and doctors' appointments. Intimate, honest conversations about diagnosis, prognosis, resources, fears, worries, frustrations.  Conversations too painful, too frightening for many folks, but for those of us in the midst of these challenges a strange relief.  We are not alone.  We are not weak because we are afraid.  We are not demanding when we fight for those we love.  It is not too much to ask for dignity and respect.

And it never ceases to take my breath away when someone who is already fighting for their life or the life of a loved one, someone we've just met offers to include us in their prayers.

So to the list I started in my previous post, I will add these lessons I am learning about support ~

~ Support comes in many different packages.  Physical help can be the easiest to find, especially if you have the financial resources, or can provide it yourself.  Intellectual support is as important, maybe more so for some people. Then there's emotional support, the people who can provide compassion and care, who know how to listen and just be there with and for you, with whom you can cry, but equally with whom you can laugh.  And -

~Support can come from the most unexpected places and in the smallest acts of kindness. 

When You Need Somebody - Part I

"Tell us - from friends, loved ones, and even acquaintances- what does help/support/relief/kindness really look like?"

I've been mulling this question from my friend, John G., for the past few days.  He suggested the answer might make a good post here.  After giving it a lot of consideration, here's my first attempt.  Not a definitive description because I don't think there is one.  At least I don't have one.   What I will share, for now,  is what I am learning about support.

~ What support looks like not only varies from person to person but also for any one person, depending on the challenge and when it appears.  When John was battling non-Hodgkins, we lived in Houston, in an apartment near the hospital.  I didn't have to cook or clean and we were 12 years younger.  I needed very little physical help as compared to today.  But I could have used more emotional support; maybe I just didn't understand that I did as much as I do today?

~ There may many people who will offer to be of help, and though some may offer only as a courtesy, no one is a mind reader.  Unless someone knows you very, very well, they cannot know what you might need and what you will accept. Even if they know, a new situation may require a level or kind of support neither of you recognizes.  I've found it helpful to me and those who would support me to list all the ways someone could help me physically, intellectually and emotionally.  It led me to make many requests I would not have otherwise - asking our window cleaner if he would take down all items from upper shelves so that neither of us needs to use a ladder anymore, replying to a friend who asked me what could lift my spirits that day -"flowers", or to another "a regular luncheon date at a spa."

~Which brings me to my last point (for now), and perhaps the most important - support, help, assistance, however you refer to it, is as much related to whether or how well you accept it as to whether or not it is offered.  In the past, my pride was an obstacle to receiving the support I wanted.  Sometimes, I thought it a sign of weakness or incompetence to admit I needed help.  Sometimes, I'm embarrassed to say, I thought I could do it all or better. Experience has taught me otherwise. Sometimes I just didn't know what I needed. And sometimes, even today, I get too overwhelmed, too caught up in anxiety and fear to even recognize what is being offered.

Well, John, my friend, your question has instigated some serious thought. I recognized even as I started to compose my reply that there is much more I want to add - so there will be a Part II.  In the meantime, I welcome comments, questions, and other ideas.  Support each other?  What a wonderful idea.