Create the Good – 25 Days, 25 Ways to Care
This post brought to you by Create the Good. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Country Life City Wife.
If there is something you know about me, it is that I try hard to live by the belief ‘the gift is in the giving’. I don’t just like to tout about it, I try to make it part of my every day. When I think about the times I was sick so many names and faces come to mind. I want to tell you about some of them today. I want to tell you how they changed my life; saved my life. Then I want you all to do something for me. Think about someone you know who is out there changing lives and nominate them for the Create the Good 25 Days 25 Ways to Care Contest. I LOVE THIS contest! I’ll tell you more about it in a minute.
Diagnosed
Some of you know that the first time I was diagnosed with cancer, I was eighteen years old. Guys, I didn’t have a clue. I had just finished my very first semester of college. I was free as a bird. I was off having a grand ol’ time in Hawaii, but something just wasn’t right. I couldn’t catch my breath doing the simplest of things and I was just so tired all the time. It was more than altitude and jet-lag. SOMETHING was wrong.
Dr. W
I’ll spare you the story of how I was finally diagnosed, but I want to tell you briefly about one guy. We’ll call him Dr. W. There are sometimes medical professionals you will run across and you won’t jive. I was sick. Really sick. He told me I needed a psychiatrist and it was all in my head. Yep. And my chest and neck and lymphatic system, too. I tell you about him because I don’t want you to give up on the good people out there. The great doctors and nurses who allow themselves to care. Luckily, second time was the charm for me and I got Dr. T and Cindy.
Dr. T
I met Dr. T, my oncologist, and immediately I knew we were a match. I was his youngest patient and he called me pussycat. Somehow, around him I wasn’t scared. We worked together, as a team, and on Valentine’s Day he would introduce me to Cindy. She was my chemo nurse and someone whom I still love fiercely ‘til this very day. That was 1995. The impact she had on my life didn’t fade. In fact, as I get older and understand her selflessness even better, it grows in spades.
Cindy
Cindy was jovial and I loved her laugh. She made me pee a lot so I would flush the chemo out of my kidneys, even though I hated getting up so much. She knew how to administer all my drugs in the right order so I wouldn’t get as sick afterward and even though it stunk to sit an extra hour in the chair, she dripped certain meds slowly so the impact on my lungs wouldn’t be so hard. Her presence made it all easier. I loved listening to the latest stories about the manatees who lived in the canal behind her house. To describe Cindy as my earth-angel is an understatement.
The Difference
There are a lot of them out there; those people giving and making a difference. My friends who painted my bald head red, white and blue for the Fourth of July. My mom who made me drink carrot juice. My dad who sat in the chair next to me the first time the doctor told me I had cancer. People I’ve never met who gave their time and money for research so I’d be here today – I couldn’t have gotten through it without them. Now we all have a chance to thank the givers and the doers.
Create the Good 25 Days 25 Ways to Care
I am so excited to share Create the Good 25 Days 25 Ways to Care. Check out this video or visit the website here and nominate your candidate. For 25 days, there will be random drawings for gift cards. Remember they go to the nominee – not the person submitting the video! Share your creations via Facebook and Twitter and your nominee will gain more entries into the drawings. Create the Good judges will review all of the videos and the nominee selected will win $2,500 to donate toward the charity of their choice. I love it!
Here are the Contest Rules.
So tell me, who has inspired you and who would you nominate? Guys, I wrote this post today and it is amazing how memories from over twenty years ago can bring tears to our eyes. If you do one thing in your life, give back in a way that when they look back on their time with you, it makes someone cry happy tears like I did today.
All the love,
Heather
