I’VE COMPLETED ANOTHER TRIP AROUND THE SUN since my diagnosis in 2013 of large B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. And what a trip it has been.
Along with everyone in NYC, I scrambled in early March as the Corona Virus started to spread exponentially. I kept remembering the saying, “This, too, shall pass.” Early in my treatment, I walked by a local restaurant and saw it written on the sidewalk chalkboard. It was an affirmation of hope and boosted my resilience.
I used the phrase and shared that I was a cancer survivor during my first Zoom session of the course I teach at Pace University to reassure my students. The class transitioned to remote learning in days, and many of my understandably anxious pupils had to pack up and leave campus. It must have felt like they were living in a sci-fi thriller. One had to find a flight home to Europe where the virus had already hit, and Italy was in lockdown. Another, from India, had no choice but to stay in the city. Others went to their homes within New York City and the metropolitan area where transmission rates were alarming.
I often reflected on counting off each of the 18 weeks of chemo and beyond. July became August, summer became autumn, and the holiday season approached. After chemo, the time between follow up scans and visits increased, and at my annual checkup last December, Dr. Raphael, my oncologist, told me that I didn’t need to come back anymore.
I wondered, too, what it must be like for all the cancer patients during the pandemic. I had to go to NYU Langone daily for five straight days of infusions, and, again, the day after finishing for an injection of Neulasta, a drug to boost my blood cell production because the chemo wiped out my immune system. That was challenging enough in normal times, much less during the chaos of a highly contagious virus, with patients lining the hospital’s hallways, where many would take their last breaths.
When I learned that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society developed a fund to help blood cancer patients impacted by COVID, and I kicked off my Light The Night fundraising early. Thanks to the generosity of so many, I have already raised over $2600. Please visit my page to learn more and donate online.
Yes, cancer did indeed pass, and COVID will, too. Meanwhile, we have the opportunity to learn what is important to us, how the human spirit can get us through challenging times, and how to savor life. Most importantly, it’s also ok and necessary to feel joy, despite it all, which is what surviving cancer has taught me.
